


Canary on a Landmine

by mishmhem



Category: In Plain Sight
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 12:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mishmhem/pseuds/mishmhem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a standard protection detail: escort a witness to a trial in Denver and then deliver her to her new home.  It was anything but.  Traps and betrayal dog the marshals' heels as they try to keep their witness safe in a case where nothing is what it seems, not even their witness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea had been kicking around in my head for a long time, and is the first (and only finished/postable tale) in a series of stories.
> 
> Standard disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction and is meant to celebrate the characters, their creators and the actors who gave them a face. Alas the show ended too soon. This story was written in the summer between seasons three and four, and after four and five- I think I'm going to pretend they never happened in favor of this series.

_Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. Sometimes these turns bring about understanding and growth, sometimes not. Sometimes we think we have everything under control, and occasionally we're right. More often than not, we aren't… - - Mary Shannon_

**Arkansas - 5 Days ago**

"It's a very brave thing you're doing…"

It was District Attorney Marlin's way of soothing his own nerves. Reassure the witness, keep them calm… let them know their help is appreciated.

The woman drew a deep breath and nodded, but he couldn't help but notice the way she bit her lip. She knew she was risking her life—she knew what volunteering meant, and more importantly knew what could happen if she didn't.

"We'll have U.S. Marshals with you at all times."

She took the news in and mulled it over. He could barely hear her whispered response. "I just want to see Escobar behind bars."

He gave a slight smile. She'd do.

She sat down and let her breath out slowly. "What do you want to know?"

 

U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon watched through the mirrored glass as the lead investigator took over and began questioning the woman.

The woman's voice was soft, her answers consistent and to the point. Her expression was one of honesty, but Mary couldn't help but notice the way she looked to the side and down when she'd describe things.

"Hey Marshall," she called to her partner. "When a person's lying, do they look to the left or the right?"

"Left and down," her partner answered before launching into an explanation of his answer. "Some people believe it's because they're accessing the right side of their brain: the center for creativity, but many feel that the research is inconclusive, given the relatively small size of their sample population in comparison to that of the human race…"

"Yeah Marshall," she said rolling her eyes. "Thanks."

Marshall turned back to the interview, trying to see whatever it was Mary had noticed. "You think she's lying," he commented in a sing-song voice.

Mary turned towards him with a derisive snort. "Yeah I think she's lying."

"Twenty bucks."

"You're on."

* * *

**ISABELLE MANNING**

**WITSEC ID: PENDING**

**CONTROL: PENDING**

**STATUS: IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY - ARKANSAS**

**CASE(S) PENDING: UNITED STATES VS E. ESCOBAR**

* * *

 

The exit interview finished, the lead investigator stood and signaled the marshals into the interrogation room. Mary gathered herself together and schooled her features before exiting the room.

She was waiting for Marshall to join her when a technician bumped her on his way past. "Oops, sorry," he said awkwardly as he tried to keep from hitting Mary with his tool case.

"No worries," she answered as she dodged a man carrying a tray of coffees towards some waiting agents.

"Busy place," Marshall observed as he eyed his partner.

"Let's get this over with," Mary answered as an agreement and opened the door to the interrogation room.

The ADA stood and shook the witness' hand.

"Thank you Ms. Manning. These are Marshals Shepherd and Miller, they'll be taking you to the trial."

Mary watched the woman as she too stood and offered her hand to the two marshals. Her handshake was almost like holding a dead fish. He hand was cold and limp. Once the introductions were done she gestured for the woman to sit down.

"I know you've been briefed by the District Attorney, but we'd like to go over our safety protocols with you."

She watched the woman sit back down and listen to her, looking for signs of deceit or potential problems. "While we're together, you will listen to what I or Marshal Miller tell you. You'll be wearing a ballistic vest at all times…"

The witness nodded, her eyes finally meeting Mary's. "What about the two of you?"

Mary smiled. "Believe me, we're wearing ours as well, they're just under our jackets, now let's get started shall we?"

While Mary ran through the protocols, Marshall studied the woman, mentally comparing her reactions to her case file. The woman seemed appropriately anxious and nervous. It was a lot to take in. Hell, he'd had classmates that had mustered out before graduation when they'd gotten a similar talk on security.

He winced slightly when he noticed the gleam in Mary's eyes as she sensed her witness' tension. 'Go easy on her,' he thought as he shifted in his seat.

Mary looked up at him and for a moment it looked as if she'd heard his thought. "Do you have something to add Marshall?"

"No, you've got it covered," he answered. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew Mary had a 'feeling' about this one.

Mary continued to lay down the law and then finally took a deep breath. "Do you have any questions?"

Isabelle, their witness, looked at her hands for a moment, almost as if she was willing them to stop shaking. "I…"

She paused and shook her head. She either had no questions or way too many and Mary was betting on the latter.

"Just follow our lead, and we'll get you to the trial."

It was a promise and the woman gave them a hopeful smile.

 

With their charge carefully wrapped in a ballistic vest, Mary and Marshal led her to a line of three black SUVs parked in the basement. As they moved in, Mary opened the rear passenger side door and nodded inside.

The woman gave a furtive glance around before slipping into the SUV.

As Mary led the witness to the vehicle, Marshall took a final look around and watched as the other pairs of Marshals climbed into their SUVs. He waited for Mary's and did a final check on the outside of the SUV before walking around to the driver's side.

As far as assignments went, it wasn't that bad. Move a bank teller from the Federal Building in Arkansas to the airport, then on to Denver. If everything went according to plan, they'd be in Denver with four days to lay low before the trial.

He winced at the thought, berating himself for letting his concentration slip, or worse jinxing the whole thing.

As Marshall climbed into the SUV Mary stared at him. "Tell me you weren't thinking about how easy this would be…"

He turned giving her a semi apologetic look.

"God Marshall, Horst was supposed to be easy… remember?"

Marshall gave her look of exaggerated fear and made a nasal laughing sound that seemed to say she was not being funny.

This only seemed to make his partner smile.

In the back seat their charge shifted slightly unsure how to take the marshals' interaction.

Marshall started the SUV and waited as the first SUV left the garage.

"We're going to wait for a bit here, then head out," Marshall said for their passenger's benefit. He looked at her through the rear view mirror. She still seemed a bit jumpy, but he could definitely understand that.

The woman met his gaze briefly before giving him a shy smile. He watched a little while longer, noticing her relax just a little more.

 

The drive to Adams Field was uneventful, but as they passed the main turn off, Isabelle sat up slightly. "That… was…"

Marshall caught her eye in the rearview mirror. "It's okay. We're going to a private strip."

His voice was calm and relaxed. Mary had heard that tone many times before, calming, soothing; giving reason to an unreasonable world, but today it only seemed to put her on edge.

Isabelle for her part looked up but Marshall could still see she was growing more nervous. 'No wonder,' he thought. 'This is so far from normal for her.'

"We're going away from the commercial flights because they're hard to secure. We have a Gulfstream 150 waiting for us at the far side of the airport and that will take us straight through to Denver. We're going to be with you all the way there and we aren't going to let anything happen to you. Okay?"

She nodded, finally finding her voice. "Thank you."

"No worries, we aim to please…"

Mary gave a slightly derisive short. "We aim not to miss," she muttered under her breath, then added aloud, "There they are."

Mary sat up straight once again scanning the area.

A marshal stood at the gate, he had just started to open it when a pickup truck crested the hill. Rather than slowing down, the pickup accelerated, aiming directly for the passenger side of the SUV. He was going too fast and Mary knew it

 

"Marshall!" She yelled as she grabbed her safety belt release.

He had seen it at almost the same time and had floored the accelerator.

"Get down," he said as he focused on driving trusting Mary with their charge.

Mary for her part was already climbing into the back seat. "Isabelle, get down," she growled as she pulled a ballistic blanket over the woman before drawing her pistol.

"This was not on the travel plan," she muttered to herself as she could hear small arms fire open up.

"Hold on," Marshall warned as he crashed through another gate. He knew that the marshal at the first gate would try and deal with the truck but even as he cleared the second gate he saw two dirt bikes heading towards them.

Three bullets hit the roof of the SUV as Marshall aimed for the approaching dirt bikes instead of away.

"We've got sniper fire," Mary called staring at the roof, hoping the armor would hold.

"Tell me something I don't know," Marshall growled from the front.

There was a pause as Mary tried to think of something Marshall wouldn't know but could only come up with one thing. "Did you know you can't lick your own elbow?"

"An interesting endeavor, one I'm sure you tried at some point, but not exactly what I was looking for…They're trying to box us in."

He flinched as a bullet hit the side view mirror shattering it. He turned the wheel, using the vehicle as a weapon against the dirt bikes, but it was a precarious balance. If he stayed long enough to deal with the bikes, the sniper was more likely to get off a killing shot. If he avoided the sniper, one of the men on the bikes was bound to get them with small arms fire.

He took his foot off the gas as he felt the SUV start to tip and held his breath as it righted itself. "High center of gravity: possibility of roll over at higher speeds… need to adjust…"

"Marshall… words… discussion… What have we got?"

"Pick-up's stopped at the gate, two bikes harrying us from the front and right flank… Sniper…high and to the left."

"We're going to have to get out of here."

"That's what I'm trying to do…"

He ducked reflexively as another bullet shattered the passenger side windows. "I don't think we're going to get our deposit back on the SUV…" he muttered.

"Marshall, focus…. Give me a line on the right flank guy…."

"Right flank guy," he repeated as he searched the terrain and found a rise that would get them out of the sniper's cross-hairs. "Coming up…"

He turned slightly to the left before bringing the SUV around to the right presenting its broad side to the oncoming biker. The only problem was the forward attacker was now behind them.

As soon as the vehicle stopped Mary sat up firing her pistol and hold out at the same time.

"Go, go go…" she urged.

Marshall quickly pressed the accelerator and once again headed towards the rise. As the bike tried to ram them Marshall braced himself. "Down…"

Mary responded to the order without thinking. She threw herself to the floor on top of Isabelle and tried to brace them both for the impact.

Bullets sprayed the front windshield, breaking it, but the coating held, keeping the glass from flying into the passenger compartment. Marshall aimed directly for the approaching bike. He had to clear a path out of there as quickly as possible and he had no doubt that the SUV would see them through.

It was, however, going to need a lot of bodywork.

The rider must have realized the same thing at pretty much the same time and tried to get out of the way, but it was too late.

Marshall winced as he felt the impact but kept driving. There was no time for niceties and the longer they remained on this side of the hill, the more chances the sniper had. Another bullet hit the back, shattering the glass.

Marshall filed that away for later and focused on getting them safely out of the line of fire. As they crested the hill he took one last look at the plane waiting behind them. There was no safe way to get to it now. With a grimace he headed for the fence and fish tailed back onto the road.

"You all right back there?" Marshall called out.

"Never better," his partner answered as she pulled the blanket away and helped Isabelle back up. "You okay?"

The woman's terrified look almost said it all.

"I'll get back to you on that," Mary said, patting the woman's knee before climbing back into the front passenger seat.

"Whew… that was fun…" she said pushing her hair out of the way. "Was it good for you?"

Marshall looked at her for a moment shaking his head.

"What?" Mary asked. "Too much innuendo?"

Marshall focused on the road ahead. "Looks like the airport's out."

What's the plan now?"

"We could try and get to Fayetteville but at this point it's going to be a lot easier for us to head out of state…"

"We're going to have to get a new vehicle… this one's going to draw too much attention."

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking this is Horst all over again."

Marshall blanched slightly at the statement then looked at their witness. There were differences, differences he would need to remind Mary about. Most importantly, in this case, the witness was an innocent by-stander, not a contract killer.

He also had no intention of any of them getting shot.

He was startled as Mary slapped his arm with the back of her hand and nodded towards the long term parking sign. He gave a sidelong glance. This was a very bad idea.

 

Marshall stood with his back against the side of the SUV, surveying the area for threats.

It had taken them precious minutes to find an area in long term parking where they could work uninterrupted, and more importantly a car that did not have a locking steering wheel.

In the second to last row, they'd found exactly what they needed, a 1968 Dodge Dart.

As Mary failed to start the car for a third time he sighed. "Can I help?"

Marshall's voice was slightly testy.

"I don't know Marshall, can you?"

She shook her head and went back to work. "Like we don't have enough problems…now is not the time for a Marshall conniption…"

"I heard that…."

As he groused he heard the Dodge come to life. Mary took his place as he led Isabelle to the passenger side and pushed the seat forward so she could climb into the back. Once she was seated, he waved for Mary to get their gear.

It was like a game of badminton, each marshal working while the other watched, taking turns until the job was done. With their witness secured, Marshall resumed watching as Mary gathered their gear and put it in the back of the car with Isabelle.

Once she was ready Mary slipped into the driver seat as Marshall took the passenger seat. As they pulled out of the parking lot Marshall continued to survey the area. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"What are you thinking?" Marshall asked as they got back out on the interstate.

"Same thing you are—they knew where we were going."

"This is so not good."

"Yeah, and you get to call Stan."

Again Marshall gave Mary a pained look. "Why do I have to call him?"

"Because I'm driving."

 

Chief Inspector Stan McQueen stared at the phone as if willing it to ring. Word had come through half an hour ago of the attack on his inspectors and he had heard nothing since.

There was no doubt in his mind that his people would handle the situation as best as they could, but he had also witnessed the frailty of the human body. His people had been shot, knifed, blown up, almost blow up. Odds were one of these times he was going to lose one or both of them. He prayed this wasn't the time and that Mary and Marshall still had many years of annoying him in store.

Finally his phone rang and he picked up.

"McQueen."

He closed his eyes in relief as he heard Marshall's voice on the other end. He could hear the strain in the younger man's voice but he sounded well.

"Stan, we have a problem…"

Before Marshall could say anything else he asked the all two important questions. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"We're all fine. Shaken up…"

There was a pause as Marshall tried to gather his thoughts and say what none of them wanted to say.

"You think there's a leak."

"Stan, they knew where we were going. Do you know if anything happened to the others? How about at the airport?"

"Not a thing Marshall everyone else is all right." The marshal at the gate had been injured, but nothing life threatening and Stan knew they didn't need that extra worry right now. "What can I do for you?"

"We've… commandeered… a vehicle, but we're going to need something less stolen and more secure."

"Call me back in an hour I'll see what I can arrange."

"Thanks Stan."

"Be careful."

He hung up the phone and was immediately making another call. Someone was leaking information and putting his people in danger. He now had two jobs to do. First and foremost, provide Marshall and Mary what they needed to get their job done safely and secondly—find the leak.

 

"So," Mary said as she focused on the road ahead. "What's he say?"

Marshall got a pained look then faced forward again, his eyes going from the road ahead, to the overpass, to the side view mirror as he turned off his phone..

"They knew where we were going."

Mary shook her head. "That's what we said… what did HE say?"

"Mary, no one was waiting at the other points of departure. Just ours."

There was silence as they both thought of the ramifications.

"Well… hey… Makes me feel special."

"Yeah."

"He say anything else?"

"Call back in an hour."

"So… Quickest way out of Arkansas?"

"We're on it."

"All right then." Mary said with a sigh. "Wanna find a radio station, Ringo?"

"Do you have any…" Marshall turned, planning on asking Isabelle if she had any preferences only to find her curled up under the ballistic blanket.

"Gives a whole new meaning to security blanket," Mary commented softly. "You may have to check her bags when this is over… make sure she doesn't take it with her."


	2. Chapter 2

Stan held his breath and let it out slowly.

They had a security breach.

It wasn't even with one of their charges. It was a transport assignment. It had to be someone in the DOJ supply line or maybe the local police department… anything. He knew it was possible the leak was in the Marshal Service but he prayed it wasn't. That would get too messy too fast and it would mean Marshall and Mary were in an indefensible position.

For all they knew, the enemy was just really good at putting things together. Hell an ill timed spree of pizza deliveries to the Pentagon had tipped off the news service that something was about to happen in Iraq. It was possible.

A careless word here or there that means nothing on its own could mean a lot to someone else. No, that first call meant he would worry about the leak later giving him the time he needed to try and get help to agents.

He knew his first call would be initiating a chain of other calls as resources were gathered and he had his own chain of calls to make.

If there was a leak, his office would be watched. He was in no position to get what was needed, but he knew people who were closer, people with an interest in keeping Marshall and Mary safe.

He dialed the phone. "Yes, this is Stan McQueen out of the Albuquerque office could I please speak to your director?"

"Hello? Seth? This is Stan… I need you to call me back from a secure location in fifteen minutes. Phone number is…."

 

As they drove Marshall split his time between watching the traffic behind them in the rearview mirror and studying a map. "What are you thinking?" Mary said with a slight scowl on her face. "You're thinking something I know I'm not going to like."

"Yeah…" Marshall answered hesitantly.

"Spill."

"There are three main roads to take from here to Denver. The one we're on, I-40 and US-412 all about the same distance… That gives them a one in three chance right there. If you factor in that much of US-412 is I-40… well… then you start to see the problem."

"What else?"

There was a long pause as Marshall thought about his answer and finally shrugged. "How much money do you have on you?"

Mary closed her eyes briefly as she tried not to think about how bad things had gotten. If there was a leak, there was every possibility that their fleet card, credit cards and debit cards could be tracked. It was why they always took their witness' cards issuing them a new ID when they reached their destination.

Twenty, maybe thirty, 'cause God forbid they make it easy for us."

"That's probably part of what Stan is working on but until then…"

"Until then we're on our own and we've got…"

She paused looking down at the gas gauge. "Good God, what kind of mileage does this thing get?"

"It was built in the 60's Mary, at a time when they really didn't care about fuel efficiency. Average mileage for a vehicle back then was thirteen to fourteen city… seventeen to twenty highway and…" He paused looking at her. "That was rhetorical wasn't it.?"

"Yeah Marshall… it was… just like we're going to be if we don't get some gas and some money pretty quickly."

"We could use their tracking us to our advantage…"

"I really don't like it."

"Neither do I but we really don't have much choice. It's that or get a hotel room and see who finds us first."

They both knew that wasn't an option.

"How long till we call Stan back?"

Marshall looked at his watch. "Twenty minutes. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that's about twenty minutes too long."

Oblivious, Isabelle shifted slightly finding a more comfortable position. At least one of them was relaxed.

 

Stan looked at the phone on his desk as it rang through.

'This cannot be good,' he thought to himself.

"McQueen," he said as he picked up the phone, and immediately held it away from his ear.

"McQueen! What have your people done with my witness!"

Stan paused. "I have a lot of witnesses, and a lot of different people working with them. Could you be more specific?"

"This is US ADA Marlin. How many cases do you have where your people and their charge are in the wind? Airport security has found their vehicle but there's no sign of them… if they aren't in Denver with my witness on Friday…"

"Yes, Mr. Marlin, I am aware that your witness is due in Denver on Friday… but… "

"No 'buts' protocol dictates…"

"Yes… but…"

"There you are with the 'buts' again. My god man, what kind of people do you have working for you? You listen to me…."

He drew a deep breath. "No, you listen to me. My people are very good at what they do. We know they were able to escape the ambush, and they will do everything humanly possible to not only see that no harm comes to your witness, but that she is in Denver on time, ready to testify."

"They better…."

It would have been fine if Marlin had left it at that, but then his boss had to call and his boss' boss had to call.

At least it made it more realistic when he went out onto the roof for a moment's peace.

He was still steaming when his phone rang.

"McQueen."

"This is Seth Mann, you called me…is something wrong with Marshall?"

He felt he could almost breathe when he heard the voice on the other side. "Seth…Thank goodness… No, Marshall is fine. They were ambushed…"

"Only way to ambush a marshal is if you have inside information."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too…"

"So you didn't just call me to test a theory on that."

He sat down. "No, and this isn't just a courtesy call. I need someone I can trust to be discreet and hard to trace…"

"Someone not in their chain of command but someone you trust to get them out of whatever they've gotten into. And you knew I'd have a vested interest in keeping secrecy. I'm assuming you don't want any more help… just supplies.

"Yes. They're going to need money and a vehicle that isn't… "

"Just tell me where and I'll get it to them."

"I figure they'll be watching me the closest."

"In that case, I'll make arrangements… Tell him to call Jeannine. We'll handle it from there."

"Okay… I'll let him know."

Stan drew a deep breath. He had done what he could to help Marshall and Mary. If they needed more help, it would be up to them to ask for it. He knew Seth would not only be discreet, he would move heaven and earth if that's what it took.

 

Mary stayed behind the wheel as Marshall got out and filled the tank. She kept an eye on her watch knowing that once their cards were used, it wouldn't take long for the activity to be noted and depending on how it was handled they could expect anything from trained killers to police.

Trained killers, if the leak got a hold of their usage; police if the ADA thought they were kidnapping his witness.

Sometimes she wondered how people tended to miss that whole 'Witness' part of Witness Protection. If they'd wanted Isabelle dead, she would be dead. All they would have had to have done was mess up.

A slight slip here, a missed shot there: it would have been easy.

With the tank full, Marshall tucked his fleet card into his wallet and headed inside. Mary could see the tension in the way he moved. To the casual observer he was just a lanky guy 'moseying' to the store, but Mary knew better.

She could see it in the way he scanned the area and the people near-by. She could feel it in the way he moved.

She saw a car pull in behind them and let her breath out. It was too soon. It had to be too soon she told herself. It was just someone getting gas.

She watched the driver get out, tense until he focused on fueling his vehicle, then only vigilant. She forced her breathing to remain deep and steady as she watched the comings and goings around them, her breathing resuming normal as Marshall exited the store: a bag of doughnuts and a tray of coffees in hand.

'Trust Marshall to get the essentials,' she thought to herself as he got into the car and strapped in.

"Now would be a good time to go," Marshall said in a quiet yet steady voice. "There seemed to be some sort of 'hiccup' with our cards…."

Mary nodded and started to pull away from the pump, knowing when Marshall got that tone it was time to bid a hasty exit.

As she pulled away she noticed him pulling a box out of the doughnut bag.

"There better be doughnuts with that," she warned, her eyes narrowed as he opened the box and began assembling a pay as you go phone.

"Hey… they really do have everything at convenience stores these days…and there better be some doughnuts in there."

Marshall shook his head at Mary's insistence and finally acquiesced, handing her a doughnut from the bag. "Better now?"

Their passenger seemed to perk up at the mention of food.

"Not another one," Marshall muttered to himself as he handed their passenger one as well. "We'll get some real food in a little while," he promised.

 

Stan stayed outside after talking to Seth and began to pace. He could only avoid calls from the ADA for so long and an hour was pushing it. Then there was the fact that he'd turned over the safety of his people to someone else. Logically he knew it was the best decision he could make, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

He hated being in the dark, especially when it came to his people's safety and being unable to help them was even worse. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out.

It was Eleanor.

"Eleanor," he began.

"Stan, I don't have much time. Something's going on here but I can't quite put my finger on it. There's a lot of chatter and action and… you should know that O'Conner's picked up the case."

"Dammit," Stan swore. "They aren't the enemy here and if the FeeBies find them, it's a good bet the cartel's people will know where they are five minutes later."

"I know, look, I'll call you later but you tell them to be careful."

"You too, I don't like the way this is looking."

"Story of my life," she muttered to herself as she hung up.

Stan was still mulling over the latest news when his phone vibrated again. He frowned when the caller-id simply said "Wireless Caller."

He studied it for a minute then answered, "McQueen."

"Stan."

He could feel the tension flow out of him as he heard the all too familiar voice.

"You thought I wasn't going to call, didn't you?"

"I told you to call, if it were Mary all bets are off—but I told you."

"I'm flattered… I think."

"Don't be, things are getting really hot really fast. I talked to sources with the FBI. O'Conner is taking over the FBI side of the investigation."

"Investigating our alleged leak or investigating us."

"Knowing O'Conner… it could be both."

He knew Marshall was weighing his options during the silence, but there wasn't time.

"Stan…"

"Marshall, you listen to me. I'll be here long after this situation is over. In the meantime, you need to call Jeannine... "

Stan paused as he saw some sort of commotion at the door inside the office: four men in suits demanding admittance. That hadn't taken long.

"Gotta go… seems the locals are here…already… call me back on my office line tomorrow at 07:00."

He hung up and resisted the urge to toss the phone off the roof. He wasn't going to give O'Conner the satisfaction.

 

Marshall hung up the phone, a perplexed look on his face.

"Well that was…"

"What did Stan say?" Mary cut him off demanding to know what she had missed. .

"Well, it would seem that O'Conner is looking for us.

"You mean the leak?"

"No… I think he thinks he's looking for the leak and is actually looking for us."

"Based on?"

"History."

"Oh… Yeah..." She thought for a moment. "Was Stan able to get us any support?"

"It seems I have to call my sister-in-law to find out…"

"What? He called 'dad'?"

"So it would seem."

Mary could tell Marshall was becoming less and less happy by the way he enunciated each word.

"Maybe I should just drive and let you work out the details…"

"That might be best."

Mary watched him as he prepared to make the call. When he did, she wasn't really surprised when he dialed the number from memory.

She focused on the road, trying to resist the urge to listen in. You could tell a lot about a family by the way they interacted. And despite Marshall's objections to the contrary, she was fairly certain Marshall was a lot closer to his family than he admitted.

 

Marshall paused before hitting the connect button. He hated involving family but they were already involved and, if ever there was a family that could deal with their current situation, it was his.

Four U.S. Marshals, five if he counted himself, an EMT and, if that weren't enough, he was fairly certain his mom could take them all on, and never drop a stitch in whatever yarn based hobby she chose to deploy.

No, the Mann family was more than capable of taking care of themselves but he was a WitSec Inspector. He was supposed to be able to handle things like this on his own and having a family able to handle things and asking them to were two different things.

It was especially hard to ask, since they would be involving themselves for him, not the job.

He admitted to himself that in some twisted version of the world it was for the job and for the Marshal Service since someone was using it to their own ends but still.

He stopped, shook his head.

This was pride speaking, not the level-headed son of a fourth generation marshal. They had a job to do and a deck that was stacked against them. Stan and his dad knew the nature of his job and they would know to help but not take over.

He pressed the green button on the phone and waited.

"Please deposit 2 bits for the next ten minutes..."

Marshall laughed. Of all the greetings he was expecting, that was not one of them.

"Jeannine, do I need to talk to Wyatt about your allowance?"

He could hear his sister-in-law's laughter on the other end. "Well, you know how it is, I'm still saving up for my new Glock…"

"So, your boss is still getting creative when it comes to office supplies?"

"Yeah well, you know your brother…"

As Marshall tried to figure out what to say next, Jeanine launched into telling him about the comings and goings of the Family Mann… only none of it matched what his mom had told him the last time they'd talked, which had been yesterday. Things did not change that much over night.

There was something about Wyatt attending a conference in Tulsa, and Morgan going fishing down in Roland, Oklahoma.

"He's staying at the Motel 6 there," she added. "You should look him up if you're in the area… he's there all week."

He paused, as all the pieces came together. "Thanks, I'll see what I can do. Good talking to you."

"You too Marshall, stay good…."

As she hung up he pulled the phone away from his ear and studied it for a minute before folding it closed and looking at Mary.

"And I was worried about your family…I think my family has finally gone insane…" he said softly.

Mary tilted her head, most of the conversation she'd heard made perfect sense… if it was a social call, but they both knew it wasn't.

"Spill."

"I'm not sure I can spill on this Mare…"

"Why not?"

"Because according to my sister-in-law, my brother Morgan is fishing in Oklahoma."

"What? There aren't any fish in Oklahoma?"

"No, I'm pretty sure there are fish. I just don't have a brother named Morgan…"

Mary paused, thinking about the implications before responding, "I take it we're going to Oklahoma then."

"Small town called Roland… we're looking for the Motel 6."

Mary thought about the answer and the half of the conversation she'd heard. Her suspicions about her partner and his family were sealed. "I am so not playing charades with your family."

 


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later they were off the main roads and heading away from the cities. It meant a slower pace, but it also meant they had a better chance of spotting a tail.

"Mary," Marshall said in a quiet tone as he looked in the rear view mirror.

"Blue sedan, four door…"

"They could just be heading the same way," she said, her tone indicating she'd seen the same vehicle as well.

Marshall nodded then turned towards their passenger. "Ms. Manning," he said his voice an odd combination of gentle and commanding. "I need you to get under the blanket and hunker down as far as you can…"

When he saw the witness' expression, he took a deep breath.

"It's just a precaution," he assured her and helped her with the blanket. "Stay down until I tell you otherwise."

Once their passenger was secure, Marshall split his attention between the vehicle behind them and the map.

"What do you think?" Mary asked in a flat tone as she maintained their current speed.

"Like you said, he could just be heading the same way. We need to be sure."

Mary nodded. They continued straight for a few more minutes, giving Marshall time to study the map and find a few turns that would allow them to observe the vehicle and determine if they were actually following.

"Okay, in about a mile, there'll be a side road to your left. Take that and then the first right. It runs parallel to this road for about a mile then heads off to the north west…"

Mary nodded following his directions. There was a tense moment when the Sedan also took the left hand turn, but when they turned right the sedan continued straight. They let their breaths out, but continued to drive.

They both knew the car could still double back.

Marshall continued to watch traffic in the side view mirror while Mary focused on the road ahead. After five minutes they relaxed and Mary nodded towards the back seat.

"Ms Manning," Marshall called. "It's safe to get up…Ms. Manning?"

Isabelle slowly emerged from beneath the blanket and gave Marshall a tired smile. "You know… it's oddly comforting under that thing… and… It's just 'Is.'"

"What 'is'?"

"My name. Everyone just calls me Is, not Ms Manning… Isabelle if they're being formal, but everyone who knows me just calls me 'Is.'.

"'Is' it is then…"

"Marshall," Mary interrupted. "I hate to break up this happy little moment—but we're going to need to get gas soon…Preferably somewhere with food."

Marshall gave Is a slight 'what can you do' shrug and set to work searching for the nearest gas station.

 

The nearest gas station, with food turned out to be a truck stop about forty miles down the road.

As they pulled into a parking space, Marshall looked around. "We're not just getting gas?"

"No Marshall. Some of us don't have super bladders. We're going for the trifecta here. Rest room, reload, refuel… go."

Marshall held his hands out to his side in surrender. "Just checking…"

Mary rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Isab… Is, I want you to stick to me like I'm your best girl-friend who's trying to steal your boyfriend got it?"

The witness frowned slightly as she tried to translate Mary's instructions.

"Just stay close to her," Marshall suggested as he handed Isabelle a jacket.

Isabelle nodded and put the jacket on as Marshall exited the car and pulled the seat forward for her to get out.

As she climbed awkwardly out of the back Marshall remained in position while Mary stretched, using the movement to survey the area before they headed to the main building.

"You okay there Is?" Mary asked.

"I… I think I left my legs back in the car," she admitted as they began walking towards the main building.

Mary looked at the signs and smiled. "Looks like we might actually have our choice of foods…"

Marshall rolled his eyes and followed the two women inside.

 

It was the sedan.

Marshall spotted it less than five minutes after they'd left the truck stop. He had guided Mary through another series of side roads, but this time the sedan had followed. Followed and increased speed.

"Is," Marshall said turning around. He gave Mary a grim smile when he saw that Isabelle was already lying down on the floor and covering herself with the blanket. It was a bad thing when your witness had gotten used to this sort of routine.

He drew a deep breath and started scanning their surroundings. Something was very wrong. They were getting closer and closer to an outcropping of rocks and the pavement had given way to a dirt road and still the sedan came.

"Get ready," Mary warned.

Marshall let his breath out slowly preparing for the fight they both knew was coming.

"He's herding us," Mary observed.

Marshall watched as Mary took another turn in an attempt to avoid the sedan but it was closing the distance. He thought about how easily their pursuers had caught up with and came to same conclusion Mary had.

"I think he's herding us," Marshall said, a hint of a smile on his face.

Mary gave him a warning look then shook her head. "You are such an idiot."

This only made Marshall's smile broaden. She caught the smile on his face and started to return it when she saw his expression change. She had less than a second to register the change before she found herself face down on the seat with him on top of her.

Glass shattered as three bullets impacted with the vehicle. The first two cut through the hood into the engine beneath. The third punched through the windshield before passing through the driver side headrest and shattering the back window.

"Floor it," Marshall ordered as he steered the car out of the line of fire. The engine fought to respond, and Mary was too aware of the smell of coolant and the high whine of the transmission trying to go faster than the gears allowed.

She began to regret their most recent meal and swore to herself. She was dammed if she was going to let her last meal be served with fries and a soda. If she was going, it was going to be filet minion all the way… or ribs… not some rancid road-side burger.

"Break!"

She was driving blind, trusting Marshall to handle the steering and tell her what he needed. The car had almost stopped when she felt a final impact. Marshall had driven the car into something.

The sudden stop jarred her into action. Pushing herself up, she looked around, evaluating their situation and location. Marshall had steered them into a mound, turning the car at the last minute to give them some cover on the passenger side.

They were surrounded by hills… no trees… little cover.

"I think we're in a quarry…"

Mary looked back the way they'd come trying to get oriented as Marshal got out of the car and moved away from the door covering her exit.

She slipped out the passenger side and moved behind Marshal. She put her hand on his shoulder briefly to let him know where she was and what she was doing.

"Get Is," she said as she fired a shot at the approaching Sedan.

Marshal holstered his gun and bent over to help Is out.

"Sniper is probably up and to our left…" he called over his shoulder.

Mary nodded, it would explain Marshall's reason for half burying the car in the mound. This close it would be hard for the sniper to get an angle on them, but it also gave them very little wiggle room.

She looked at the approaching sedan and then back towards where they thought the sniper had been waiting for them. Location and timing meant a lot of things they'd need to worry about, but right now they had to survive the trap.

"I'm going to try and get a better angle. Keep Is safe."

She didn't give Marshall time to respond. The last thing they could afford was him talking her out of it. Someone had to protect Is and someone had to protect them.

Marshall worked with grim determination cursing the fact that they'd chosen a two door vehicle and the fact that he was the one having to stay with their charge while Mary took the risks necessary to keep her safe.

As he helped Is out of the car a bullet crashed through the window. It served as a reminder that Mary wasn't the only one taking risks. He guided Is to the front of the car where the engine block and firewall would offer her more protection.

"Keep your head down," he urged as he reached back into the car and pulled out the ballistic blanket. He pulled out the disposable phone and paused. Giving up their location was a moot point now. The real issue was response time. It was doubtful they could get anyone there in time to change the outcome.

He shook his head and focused on the approaching sedan. He heard three shots ring out and spared a glance behind them. He'd recognized the report of a Sig Sauer and a rifle shot.

"We have to get to Marshal Shepherd," Is said in a quiet yet determined voice.

"She's doing what she can to even the odds," Marshall replied in a soothing tone. "Give us a chance against the guy in the sedan."

"Marshal Miller, that was a .308"

"I know tha…." He turned, his head tilting as he met Is's gaze.

"Effective range approximately 800 to 1000 metres depending on who you talk to… Sig, 226.. 40 cal?… significantly less… only way she's going to take him out is get the drop on him or with help... smart money's on 'with help'."

He gave Is a startled look as she raised up slightly. There was something in her manner that had changed. She was no longer the fearful bank teller they'd met at the Federal Building, no, this woman was a fighter. He looked down and saw the pistol in her hand and revised his opinion: an armed fighter.

He tilted his head. He wasn't going to question it, not now—not with Mary in danger. Another bullet hit the car, not while they were in danger.

He signaled her to give cover fire while he moved to the rear of the car. She nodded and popped off three rounds on his signal, giving him time to get into position. He gave her a hand signal and began a countdown from three. It wasn't much of a cross fire, but it was enough.

As Is gave a relieved nod he tilted his head. "I'm guessing you aren't Is."

"Thankfully, not today, let's help your partner deal with that sniper and get the hell out of here. We survive: I'll tell you all about it…"

 

Mary moved along the base of the mound, trying to keep as much cover as she could as she tried to find a sign of the sniper. 'Crack, Thump,' she thought to herself as she tried to pick the next best spot. She really hated 'Crack, Thump.'

She'd heard it twice now and she knew it was only a matter of time until she didn't hear the 'Thump.'

She heard gun fire behind her and prayed Marshall was all right. 'You better be all right," she muttered to herself when she heard three shots followed by a volley then silence.

She continued trying to move along the hills but it was slow going and cover was sparse at best. As she moved she listened for signs of life from the others, for any hint where the sniper was.

She heard some rocks slide to her left and pressed herself into side of the hill. A breath later she heard the Thump as a round buried itself in the outcropping she'd just ducked behind.

This was getting too close.

Marshall took a minute to decide on a plan of action and signaled Is. He was going to see about climbing the hill in front of him, while he sent her around the other way. It was a gamble, but she was right—Mary stood a much better chance with backup. They all did.

He holstered his firearm and began climbing carefully picking his way up the loose rock. He almost lost his balance when he heard another shot, but then he pressed on, moving as quickly as he dared. Mary was running out of time.

To his left he could see Is making her way around the hill, moving as quickly as she could. The jury was still out but so far she'd given him no reason to mistrust her.

 

Mary moved back slightly, knowing the longer she remained in one place, the easier it was going to be for the sniper to finally hit her. He was moving now, she knew that much but he was keeping to the high ground. That made her job harder.

 

The sniper was closing in confident that his partner had taken out the others he focused on the remaining marshal.

He smiled as she looked up and saw him. It was almost too easy.

 

Mary felt her heart in her throat as she looked up and saw the sniper as he looked down on her. She tensed when she heard the 'Crack' and gasped when she heard the Thump. Time seemed to freeze as her mind processed what had happened and the man started to fall. Behind him she could see the shadow of a tall man.

She smiled as the shadow moved forward only to tense again when she saw a second person moving in, gun drawn, pointed at the sniper.

She waited as Marshall half climbed, half slid back down the as she checked on the sniper. She wasn't surprised to find he was dead.

"Is?" she asked slowly as the woman lowered her weapon.

"Now's not the time," the woman they'd come to know as Isabelle Manning answered as she knelt down to holster her weapon.

 

Marshall turned, not entirely surprised to see Mary launch herself at Isabelle. Isabelle, for her part had been bent over, slipping her firearm back into her ankle holster. He had to admit she did put up a good fight, but there was never any doubt in his mind who'd win.

Mary kept her knee in Isabelle's back after she'd cuffed the woman and relieved her of her weapon. "I don't know what game you're playing here… but I intend to find out," Mary growled in her ear.

Isabelle remained quiet when Mary finally let her up and helped her to a seated position. "Who are you and where is my witness?"

The woman glared at Mary for a moment, then tilted her head. "As far as you or anyone else is concerned, I am Isabelle Manning."

"You listen to me you arrogant self serving…"

"No. You want to keep Isabelle safe. As do I. As long as everyone concerned thinks I'm Isabelle, she's safe."

"Wrong answer," Mary said as she forced the woman to her feet, keeping her in an arm hold as she checked her pockets. Marshall wasn't entirely surprised when Mary found no form of ID whatsoever.

"Eduardo Escobar has a very long reach, as you've probably noticed by now. The minute they think I'm not their target, we'll be safe, and Isabelle and my partner will be in the bull's-eye, something I really want to avoid. You are in the exact same danger you would have been in if you had been guarding the real Isabelle."

Marshall winced. He understood the woman's thinking but it was the absolute wrong thing to say to Mary, especially after what they'd been through.

Mary was in her face in a heartbeat, her finger punctuating her words. "Don't even pretend to understand us or our job and what we need and don't need to know. And believe me, when you're setting us up as clay pigeons… WE NEED TO KNOW."

She stared at the woman, only to find 'Isabelle' staring back, neither backing up an inch.

It was Isabelle who finally broke the silence. "If you're done using me as a training dummy, I believe we have a job to do."

"Now all the sudden we're 'we', how nice of you to include us."

"I included you once I was sure neither of you was the leak… Look, I understand where're you're coming from, but this is not the time and this is definitely not the place. Now, as much as I'm not looking forward to getting my head chewed off, it's a lot better than getting it blown away by a three-oh-eight round. Kinda attached here…"

Marshall paused, not liking Mary's level of irritation but also seeing 'Isabelle's' point of view. They were in the open and a sniper with any skill would be able to take them out without much effort. "She does kinda have a point there…"

"I don't know," Mary muttered as she started marching 'Isabelle' back to the car. "I'm kind of curious to see what the .308 could do."

"I have video if you really want," 'Isabelle' assured her in a clipped tone. "Rather not sit in for the live demo any more than I already have."

Mary shook her head as she opened the rear door and hauled their gear out of the Dart. "Sedan?"

"We do know where it is."

"Fair enough," Mary said as she pushed the driver out of the car. "You," she said to Is. "Sit, don't speak and don't move."

Mary 'helped' her into the sedan while Marshall stood guard.

 

They drove in silence as Mary tried to get a handle on what had happened. After twenty minutes Marshall broke the silence.

"Sig Sauer 229… 357?"

Is looked at Mary for a moment before answering, "standard issue."

"If you're an Air Marshal, or… Secret Service?"

Is nodded.

"Interesting," Marshall commented.

Mary for her part gave an annoyed snort.

It was going to be a long drive.

 


	4. Chapter 4

It was after dark when they reached Roland. Mary let Marshall out of the car far enough away from everything that it wouldn't be seen on camera. Before he exited the car gave her a stern look.

"I'll behave," she assured him.

The look he gave her was dubious at best.

"Marshall, just go. The sooner we're someplace safe, the sooner we can piece together what's going on and get back to doing our job."

He cocked his eyebrow, gave her a slight smirk then shook his head. They'd been through too much today and the argument had been worn out of both of them.

Is, for her part remained quiet and complacent. She wasn't behaving like the shy witness Mary had come to expect, if anything she seemed more stoic, like a prisoner of war.

There was so much they needed to know.

"I don't like being set up," Mary stated after five minutes of sullen silence following Marshall's departure..

Is gave her a questioning look but said nothing.

"You better pray Marshall comes back in one piece," she added a minute later. "'cause he's the reason you haven't been hog tied and dumped at a police station."

"Good to know," the woman answered in the same clipped tone that made Mary think 'Name, rank and serial number'

"You just don't get it do you? You're standing between the US Marshal Service and our job."

"ADA called my boss, my boss called me. He believed there was a leak. You and your partner said as much..."

"So you just lead them right to us…"

"No."

"No!" You set us up as bait."

"Not bait. A stand-in maybe, but not bait… I wasn't kidding when I said you were at no more risk than you would have been with Is… I came in a week and a half ago. Got to know Is so I could… be her. The only people who know are the ADA, my partner, you and your partner and Isabelle herself."

Mary shook her head: the woman just didn't get it. She started to say something then noticed an approaching SUV.

"Get down," she warned as she drew her pistol. If she was lucky it was Marshall, but with the way their luck had been running it was best not to push it.

'Is' complied but it was awkward at best and Mary was pretty sure she heard the woman mutter something very colorful and more likely than not physically impossible.

The SUV flashed its headlights and Mary was about to do the same when a passing car back lit the SUV long enough for her to realize there were two people in the front seat.

She threw the car into reverse. "Shit. Keep your head down…." she ordered as she tried to put some distance between them and the SUV.

If it was Marshall he would have come alone, even if his dad had left someone there with the SUV he would have come alone. She had to assume the worst.

"You better be all right Doofus," she muttered to herself as she threw the sedan into a 'J' turn.

Behind her Is struggled against the handcuffs as she tried to right herself. "Hold on back there."

"… a little late… thank you…"

Mary laughed. Acerbic meant that 'Is' was still alive and kicking and for now that was good enough.

There was more flailing in the back seat as a bullet shattered the back window.

"I don't know about you," Mary said as she leaned back and fired three shots through the empty space where the window used to be. "But I'm really tired of this dance."

"God dammit," Is swore. "I will not be killed trussed up like a Thanksgiving Turkey and watch your damn ejection port… Hot shells hurt!"

Mary smiled. She was finally getting a glimpse into who 'not Is' really was.

She gunned the engine and heard more rustling. Half a minute later a hand appeared behind her, handcuff dangling from the wrist. "Gun!"

Mary hesitated a moment then handed the woman her backup pistol. "You have five shots, make them count."

"Should have taken the three-oh-eight," Not-Is grumbled as she lay across the back seat, pistol across her chest. "Better range, better control… better stopping power…."

"Will you shut up about the .308 and focus? Get ready for a slide, we're showing them our broadside… "

Not-Is's retort dissolved into a simple yet eloquent "Holy Shit…"

As the car spun, Mary fired three more shots at the SUV the first shot shattering her window. Behind her heard echoing gunfire as the rear side window was taken out as well. Before they could be broadsided, Mary floored it.

"Two left," Not-Is warned her.

Mary weighed her options. They were running out of bullets and time. "Hold on," she yelled as she threw the car into another "J" turn, this time aiming for their attackers rather than running away.

In the backseat Not-Is began praying. She'd gotten as far as something about 'still waters' as Mary swerved out of the way at the last minute, firing at the driver as the vehicle passed.

Mary smiled with satisfaction as the driver crumpled over the steering wheel and his vehicle plowed into a jersey barrier, but her relief was short lived.

A black GMC made a U-Turn behind them. She felt herself breathe again when it's grill lit up with flashing red and blue LEDs." Mary let out a relieved sigh when she saw Marshall behind the wheel. He pulled along side and lowered the window.

Looking at the general carnage he shook his head. "Can't I leave you two alone for a minute?"

There was a pause as he waited for an answer but when none were forthcoming he just gave her a perplexed look. "What did you do?"

"Shut up and help me get this stuff transferred," Mary ordered as she got out and opened the trunk.

She began pulling out their travel bags and Is's bullet ridden carry-on bag. "Get Is, or Isn't . Whoever she is."

 

Marshall had hoped that getting someplace safe, where they could regroup would make things better. It hadn't.

Mary had begun pacing almost immediately and every time she tried to say something she would point at 'Isabelle', shake her head and begin pacing again.

After Marshall had settled down with a cup of coffee, he studied 'Isabelle'. She was, in many ways the same woman they'd picked up in Arkansas, but he could also see the differences. Where Isabelle was nervous, this woman had a knowing expression as she watched her protectors.

It wasn't a wary expression either. She knew she could trust them, she knew she'd have to earn their trust, but there was also no doubt in her mind that she could do it. This woman was not someone to be shepherded; she was a shepherd in her own right—shepherd or sheep dog.

"To be honest Mare, I'm surprised you un-cuffed her," he commented.

"I didn't," Mary snapped. "She did that on her own, and at the time it seemed like a good idea to leave her that way."

'Is' shrugged. "SOP, three keys on your person… concealed."

Mary, turned, glowered at her for a moment before continuing her pacing. "Next time I'm using zip ties."

Marshall had just taken a sip of coffee and nearly lost it when 'Isabelle's replied "Zip-ties are easy, duct tape is forever."

He wasn't sure but he thought he saw Mary smile briefly.

With Mary continuing to pace, Marshall realized it fell to him to try and work things out with Isabelle, Is, Not Is… Isn't… she wasn't giving them anything else to go on.

"So, there are a few things I'm not clear on," he began. He wasn't sure if he was worried or not that she'd come into this knowing there would most likely be an attempt on her life and her only weapon was a pistol.

"What possessed you to take on this assignment? I mean—you had no way of knowing if we were on the up and up...No ties to the witness that I know of..."

Not-Is chuckled and gave Marshall a self deprecating grin. "Think about it. I work for a branch of the law enforcement that gives its applicants an IQ test to see if we're stupid enough to take a bullet for someone else… after that, something like this is easy."

After a pause she nodded to him. "You took the assignment… and I'm guessing you take this kind of assignment on a regular basis."

Marshall paused. He was about to say it was different, but for the life of him—he couldn't really explain why.

He was saved from having to say anything else when Mary stopped pacing and turned on Is. "How did you leak our location?"

Marshall turned towards Mary a questioning look on his face.

"Think about it Marshall. They knew where we were going. We ditched the Tahoe. We stole a pre-onStar vehicle… We shut off our phones… and they still managed to find us…not once, but twice. You didn't tell them. I didn't tell them… and that leaves her."

Fake Is gave an exasperated sigh and stood. "Contrary to popular belief," she began as she kicked off her shoes. "I do not have a death wish."

Marshall's eyes widened as she pulled her sweater over her head. "Leaking our location means I get a perforated skull—not really in keeping with my plans for spending my golden years in the Old Agents Home."

She was reaching behind her back to release her bra when Marshall stood his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, whoa there!"

He paused shaking his head. "While I appreciate your honesty and your desire to… explain… I don't think…this is necessary…intriguing, but not necessary"

Mary looked up. She was about to start inspecting Is' clothes when Marshall spoke up. While it was fun making him squirm, she knew this was not the time. She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and froze as her right hand came in contact with something that hadn't been there when she'd gotten dressed that morning.

"Marshall, we need to go, now. Is—put your clothes on…"as she spoke she pulled a rather crude looking collection of circuit board and wires from her pocket.

"Is that?"

"That would be my guess and if it is, that means company is coming and we really don't want to be here when they get here. Let's get out of here..."

Marshall bent down and picked up Is' sweater. "Not that I didn't appreciate your… honesty…" He told her as he handed it to her.

"Guess I'll just have to undress you with my eyes..." He added with a teasing yet hopeful smile.

Mary shook her head. "God Marshall… she's a witness."

"She's a sister in law enforcement," he corrected.

"So quit flirting with your sister and get ready to move..." She chided rolling her eyes. She paused, checking the parking lot. Seeing no movement she grabbed their bags.

"Let's go."

 

The trio quickly left the motel room and climbed into the GMC. This time Marshall was driving. As they headed out of the parking lot, Mary turned to Is. "Is.."

"I know, get down," their 'witness' said with a sigh. Mary smirked and settled back into the passenger seat.

"Where to?" Marshall asked.

"As far away from here as possible, as quickly as possible.

Marshall sighed, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

He turned east onto 64, heading towards Fort Smith, Arkansas.

"Not that I'm complaining," Mary started. "But I'm pretty sure Colorado is west of here."

"Which is why… we're heading east..."

 

**Four Days ago**

**– Somewhere in Missouri**

 

Sunrise over the dashboard was never one of Mary's favorite views. The only thing she could say for sure was this hadn't been a dull trip. When they'd been given the assignment, four days to get a witness from Arkansas to Denver had seemed like overkill and a lot of waiting and standing guard.

Now she was wondering if they'd get there in time.

"Good morning," Marshall called cheerfully from the driver seat.

"Oh god Marshall, you cannot be this cheerful after the day we've had…" She gave him a baleful look for a moment then corrected herself. "You cannot expect me to be cheerful after the day we've had."

Marshall smiled and then looked in the rear-view mirror. "Like I told you… not a morning person."

Mary turned. She'd forgotten about 'Isn't'.

The woman smiled at her and shrugged. "Too wired to sleep," she gave in a half apologetic tone.

"Jesusgod, take me now…" Mary whispered as she sunk further into her seat.

"We're about half an hour away from the nearest food—can you hold on that long?"

Mary muttered something about firearms, coffee and the love of god.

"I'll just let you sleep."

"First smart thing you've said all morning."

 

Stan arrived at the office early. With the FBI taking an interest in his missing marshals and their witness, his workload had doubled. Not only was he tasked with watching over Mary and Marshall's witnesses he now also had to help, and sometimes run interference with the FBI's investigation into the leak.

It would have been easier if someone other than O'Conner had taken the lead on the investigation, but Stan was pretty sure as soon as the name 'Shannon' appeared as one of the Marshals involved, O'Conner had pounced on it.

Now, instead of trying to find the leak he was forced to pretend watch as O'Conner tried to bury them and other people he trusted worked the case. He looked at the clock.

It was 06:30, half an hour until Marshall was supposed to call. As he waited he began going over the reports they'd received to date.

At 13:30 yesterday morning, Marshals Shannon and Mann reported to the Federal Building in Arkansas as planned.

At 14:45 they had taken custody of their witness and loaded her into one of three identical Chevy Tahoes. The two decoy Tahoes had gone to different airstrips one at the same airport, the third to one had headed north to a private runway.

At 15:25 they had reached the first gate and had been attacked. They had managed to escape the ambush that had greeted them. According to Marshall they had suffered no injuries. Three members of the hit team had not been so lucky. Two had died on scene and the third was still in ICU.

They had found no trace of the sniper.

It galled him to no end that not only had someone shot at his people—but the bastard had had enough time to police his brass before leaving.

Stan shook his head and returned to the folder.

It was almost 16:00 when he'd heard frfom Marshall. They'd already found the abandoned SUV in long term parking and the ADA was calling for a full investigation.

By 17:30 he was not only 'off the investigation' he was also a person of interest. After that, it took forty five minutes and three phone calls to get everyone on the same page.

He had managed to convince the ADA that his marshals hadn't kidnapped the witness; that she was indeed safe and the reason they hadn't come back or reported in was because they were protecting her and if he really wanted to help them, he'd spend his time looking for the source of the leak and not for his marshals.

By 21:30 he was tired, hungry and back in charge of the investigation. Sometimes he wondered how joint agency investigations ever got anywhere.

After that there had been several different reports of possible locations, possible incidents… but nothing definite.

For now, he figured their not being found was a good thing. He looked over the crime scene photos of the 'possibly related incidents.' There were two of them that concerned him the most since they were grouped relatively close together distance wise and time wise. The first occurred on a back road near Roland Oklahoma, the second at a hotel less than two miles away in the same small town.

He looked at the clock and drew a deep breath. Five minutes until Marshall was supposed to call.

It was the longest five minutes of his life, but when the phone rang he was more than ready for it.

"McQueen."

"Stan…"

There's was something in the lazy way Marshall said his name that made Stan relax immediately.

"Everyone still good? Ten fingers, ten toes?"

"Witness is… tucked in and safe," Marshall assured him, but there was something in his voice that warned Stan that things were not as they seemed.

"You and Mary?"

"We're fine, a bit … annoyed, but all right. Stan, we need you to get a hold of any surveillance footage from the Federal Building. Someone slipped a tracking device into Mary's pocket… They found us using it… twice… we left it behind and haven't had any problems since."

"I'll get people on it… In the mean time… I'm going to give you a number. Call him if you need a place to stay up north—he should be able to help you… "

"Copy that, go ahead with the number."

Stan read out the number of an old friend and listened as Marshall repeated the number. "Call me again tomorrow, same time."

"Be careful."

"I'm supposed to be telling you that."

"No need Stan. Talk to you tomorrow."

Stan shook his head as Marshall disconnected the call. The leak had to have been close to have planted a tracking device on Mary. On the bright side— he realized he could use O'Conner's well known dislike for her to get the tapes. If he used the pretext of watching Mary, they might get the drop on whoever had planted the device.

 

Marshall ended the call by shutting off the phone and turning his attention back to his companions. Mary and Is for their part had been creating a stream of seemingly pleasant patter while he 'rudely' made a call.

While he listened, he pulled the battery and SIM card from the phone and slipped the pieces into his pocket.

He frowned slightly as he tuned back into the conversation and shook his head as he heard Mary talking.

"You have to admit, for sheer stopping power… those pumps were to die for."

"Oh, but without the matching handbag…"

"I know… I know…"

Marshall looked up realizing that the sudden shift in conversation had coincided with the arrival of their waitress.

"Y'all need anything else?"

Marshall looked at the others and shook his head. "Just the check please… and… could you tell me the best way to get to Denver from here? I promised my friends I'd take them skiing…"

The waitress smiled. "That's easy from here you just hop on 35 South, and take that to I-70 West… and just stay on I-70 till you hit Denver…"

She smiled and handed him the bill. As she began collecting the plates she leaned in towards Mary and Is and confided. "I prefer a Weatherby thirty ought six."

Marshall shook his head and deadpanned, "I can't take you two anywhere…"

 

Leaving the restaurant, they headed south as directed until they were well out of sight, then Marshall headed east.

Is scowled slightly until she realized what he was doing. "Interesting tactics," she commented.

"Are you going to include that in your report to the ADA?" Mary asked slightly testily.

"Nothing that detailed- something along the lines of 'these aren't the droids you're looking for.'" Is paused, gauging Mary's reaction. "You don't like me do you?"

"Like is asking a bit much after everything we've been through but you can hold your own and that's not nothing… Trust on the other hand…"

"You still don't trust me?"

"Are you kidding?… I trusted you more when I thought you were a congenital liar…"

"Probably lost more credibility points for being Secret Service," Is sighed. She was at least catching on to the fact that she couldn't win.

Mary smiled then looked at Marshall. "And you owe me twenty bucks."

Marshall gave her his best deer in the headlights look.

 

Stan hung up the phone and placed a call to the Albuquerque Field office of the FBI.

"Good morning, this is Stan McQueen from the Marshal's Office. I need to speak to Agent O'Conner… oh, he's not in yet? Will you please tell him to give Chief Inspector McQueen a call when he gets in?"

He shook his head. The man was like a bloodhound when he was on a trail—single minded and pushing all the time, but when he wasn't in charge he was the bloodhound on the porch… the one every tip-toed around and stepped over.

Stan smiled to himself. He never wanted to be one of the 'big dogs' he was perfectly happy right where he was. He was the old shepherd—who would still rip a leg off if you threatened anyone in his flock, or his pack mates for that matter.

No one threatened Mary or Marshall without finding out exactly where his loyalties lay.

He checked his watch then called Eleanor.

He wasn't surprised when she picked up on the first ring, or that her first question was: "Are they all right?"

He smiled, realizing that Eleanor still considered herself one of them. "They're good. Someone managed to plant a tracking device on one of them."

"Who?"

"Mary."

"I'm surprised I didn't hear about the nuclear explosion going off when she found out."

Eleanor's matter of fact delivery was dead on. When he'd talked to Marshall he'd known something was off, but Eleanor's jibe hit the nail on the head. Mary should have been livid. Tricking them was bad enough—but to have managed to pull one over directly on Mary… she would have been demanding heads and/or other parts of anatomy preferably on platters.

"There are some things they aren't telling me," Stan admitted. "I have to believe it's important to keeping the witness safe."

There was a pause as Eleanor thought about what he'd said. "I don't have much more information for you—but if someone managed to tag them with tracking device it would have to have been that morning. If you can get them to retrace their steps and I'll see what I can find on this end."

"I appreciate it," he said. "And I'll let you know if anything changes."

"You better. I'll call you if I find anything," she promised then hung up. They both had work to do.


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright," Mary prompted after a half an hour of silence. "Who are you, and what have you done with my partner?"

Marshall gave her a slightly startled look then shrugged. "I'm just… tired."

"Tired? Really? Your lame-assed excuse is 'I'm tired'? This from the man who can joke and spout medical trivia with a sucking chest wound? I don't think so. Talk to me."

Marshall looked at her for a moment and gave a long suffering sigh. "I'm thinking no matter how careful we are, no matter how far we drive or where we stay, it isn't really going to matter because they know where we have to end up."

"Oh."

"Yeah… oh."

Mary looked at Is in the back seat and then looked at Marshall. "We could just not show up."

Marshall closed his eyes briefly. "It has crossed my mind, but I think we need to get some real sleep before we make any decisions. Especially one so… "

"Intelligent?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of … Machiavellian.. but ... it would mean throwing Is, the real Is, not…Isn't… her," he paused nodding towards their passenger. "To the wolves..."

Mary shook her head. She'd never seen Marshall fumble over words that badly before.

"What? I told you I need sleep."

Mary studied him for a few minutes as they drove. "Fine, we find ourselves a nice safe hotel and get some real sleep. Then we'll go over our options."

 

It was well after 09:00 when O'Conner finally returned Stan's call, and to hear his side of the conversation, Stan would have thought that it was still O'Conner's case. He was fairly certain that the FBI agent still felt it was his investigation and Stan was an annoyance at best.

"I'm sure your inspectors have everything well in hand," O'Conner had said dismissively.

"My inspectors," Stan informed him. "Have the witness' safety well in hand, but there is still the issue of the leak."

"Well what do you expect me to do about it?"

Stan smiled as he thought back on the conversation and O'Conner's reaction to his answer, "oh, I don't know… your job?"

While the response wasn't entirely professional, it did give him a rather satisfied feeling. It also fired the agent up enough that anyone questioning his request for the security footage would honestly believe he was trying to pin the leak and all the subsequent problems firmly on the Marshal Service in general, and two marshals in particular.

Stan smiled to himself. Things were definitely looking up.

 

Deciding to find a hotel and finding one that matched their needs turned out to be two very different things. First they needed to find a town or city with several hotels and motels. Ultimately they wanted quick access to their vehicle and a dependable position.

Motels meant having the car nearby and less risk of exposure, for both the witness and civilians. Hotels meant hallways, cameras and room service as well as other amenities. Usually their plans were made well in advance, but they were winging it and that meant taking what they could find.

"How much did your dad leave us?" Mary asked as she pulled into a small hotel that seemed a bastardization of hotel and motel.

"Five hundred."

She could tell by the way he answered that Marshall was a lot more tired that he'd admitted. "Okay Cowboy. I'll get us a room, you stay with Isn't"

"Isn't?" Their passenger asked.

"It's better than 'fake Is' or 'not Is' Not Is... Isn't"

"You know that totally defeats the reasoning behind my being Is?"

"It's just us. I can't see why you can't give us your real name."

"Because if you stop calling me Is, I stop being Is. I stop thinking of myself as Is and that is where mistakes get made."

"Whatever," Mary answered dismissively as she realized Marshall wasn't the only one who was tired.

Isn't's argument made sense, but it still annoyed Mary and if Mary could annoy 'Isn't' right back, it was worth it.

 

Stan watched over O'Conner 's shoulder as he reviewed the security tapes from the Federal Building. It had taken him the better part of the day to get the footage, and when he finally did he 'coudn't' transfer the files to the Marshal's Office, so Stan had to go to the FBI field office.

He knew it was a power play, a bit of pettiness on O'Conner's part, but if that was what it took to get the job done... so be it. He hadn't gotten to be Chief Inspector without learning which fights to make, and which to let slide.

Besides, more eyes on a subject usually meant a better chance of seeing anything out of place.

They viewed three different angles, following Marshall and Mary from the moment they entered the building until they left with the witness.

"I'm not seeing anything," O'Conner said, his face expressionless. "I don't know what you're expecting to find."

Stan shook his head. "Can we slow this down… show it at half speed."

"What is that going to accomplish?"

"I hope to have a better chance of seeing anything. What do you think? I amuse myself by making my Inspectors look ridiculous? No, I want to see everything that happens from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave and there was too much going on the first time."

Stan shook his head in annoyance while O'Conner gave a resigned nod to the technician.

Watching the footage on the second run, Stan tilted his head as he saw a technician bump into Mary.

"There," he said.

"What?"

Stan all but rolled his eyes at O'Conner's reaction. "Slow it down again… and zoom in on Inspector Shannon…and watch this time."

As they watched again they saw the technician slow down slightly as Inspector Shannon turned to say something to her partner. As he bumped into her, Stan called out.

"There. Freeze it."

As the FBI technician did as directed O'Conner frowned. "I'm still not seeing it…"

Stan pointed to the man's right hand as he moved in.

"What's…"

"Reverse pickpocket… he's planting something..."

O'Conner signaled the FBI tech to repeat the process of slowing down and zooming in.

This time, they could all see it.

"I need to know who that man is," Stan said with a slight growl. That man had endangered his marshals, their witness and he needed to pay for it.

"I'm on it."

"I'm going back to my office, send me a good picture of the suspect, secure sever only."

O'Conner nodded.

 

As they settled into their room, Mary studied 'Isn't'. She realized that the woman probably hadn't slept much in the past few days. She thought about the trip and realized that all the time Is was 'sleeping' Isn't had been wide awake and watching.

While she didn't necessarily like Isn't, she respected the woman's dedication to her job and her sense of self preservation.

"How long has it been since you got real, honest to god sleep?"

Isn't turned, her expression tired unguarded and very … not Is. "Since I became Is... three days ago."

"And before that?"

"A week with Is, learning to be her... "

Mary shook her head. There was the short term tired, but then there was the long term tired. Studying the other woman now Mary realized she'd been pushing herself a lot longer than she was willing to admit.

"…and before that?"

"Three months undercover... False Identity ring..."

"And here I thought it was all protection details and treasury raids. Grab a shower, get some sleep, but after today... you pull your weight."

Isn't gave Mary a tired smile and Mary returned it with a nod, her opinion of the woman rising ever so slightly. She still didn't trust 'Isn't', but Mary could respect what she was trying to do and she knew an ace in the hole was only good if it was ready to be played.

 

"You've reached the desk of Eleanor Prince. I'm either away from my desk or on another line right now. Please leave your name and number and a brief message at the tone…"

Stan waited for the beep before speaking.

"Eleanor, it's Stan… please call me…"

He paused, unsure what else to say and finally shrugged and hung up.

As he waited for her to call back, Stan studied the photo and shook his head. It worried him how close the man had been to the witness, to his marshals, and no one had noticed. If Marshall and Mary hadn't been the team they were—no one would ever have known he had set them up.

There was a special place in hell for people like that and Stan vowed he would make sure the man became well acquainted with said hell. He just had to put a name to that face, and Eleanor was the woman to do it.

 

Mary looked at her watch. It had been five hours since they'd checked in and Marshall and 'Isn't' were both sleeping soundly. Marshall had told her to wake him after four hours, but she could tell by the way he was tossing and turning that he needed more.

Isn't, on the other hand, was sleeping like a baby.

She studied the Secret Service Agent as she slept and reviewed what she knew about the woman.

It was a very short review.

Aside from her ability to assume a completely different personality they had almost nothing to work with. Part of her was tempted to call Eleanor and see what she could find, but she knew from experience that even Eleanor needed more information than 'Secret Service Agent with a fondness for high powered rifles' to put a name with the Agent.

A thought crossed her mind as she pulled out the confiscated side arm. She studied it for a few minutes and noted the serial number.

It was frustrating to have the pieces she needed to identify their 'Isn't' knowing that using it would endanger their witness. She hated being forced to play the woman's game. More than anything she hated not knowing.

 

**Three Days ago – Somewhere in Nebraska**

 

Marshall stretched as the first rays of light shown through the part in the curtains. He had taken over for Mary about three hours earlier and it had remained a quiet watch.

He'd tried to complain about her waiting to wake him but she'd dismissed his concerns with a simple, 'I couldn't sleep,' knowing full well he wouldn't argue with her.

He hated to admit it but he'd needed the extra few hours of sleep. He shook his head as he realized her reasoning wasn't as altruistic as it first seemed. With him being on duty in the morning it meant the morning preparations would fall to him: calling Stan, making the coffee and if she was lucky he'd also order breakfast.

He looked over to watch her sleep, then felt his attention drawn to Is. She'd been asleep when Mary had woken him and as near as he could tell hadn't moved all night.

He sighed: here he was sharing a hotel room with two gorgeous women and he was standing guard. There were times he hated his job.

His gaze strayed to the clock on the night stand. It was over an hour and a half until he was supposed to call in. Something told him it was going to be a long ninety minutes.

 

Stan sipped his coffee as he checked his messages for the fifth time that morning. He had stayed at the office, turning it into his own private command center in the hopes he'd have some news for his inspectors, but as of 00:30 this morning nothing had changed.

They had a name to go with the man on the tape but he was currently on leave for a 'personal emergency.' When SOG had arrived at the man's house they found it empty. His neighbors had said he'd left in a hurry and mentioned something about his mother but no one knew anything else.

The FBI had begun processing the scene almost immediately afterward, but the man had been a ghost. There were finger prints, but there were multiple sources and the technicians would have to sort through them.

Eleanor was working her angle going through personnel files but it was slow going at best. She said the hardest part was keeping it under wraps, which she assumed he wanted right now.

He did. They both knew that as soon as someone caught wind of the investigation the man would become a liability to whomever had hired him. It made their job that much more difficult, but it could also provide the leverage they needed to find out who had hired him.

If there was one thing he had learned as a WitSec Inspector it was the fact that nothing turned a potential witness against you like trying to kill them. He was confident that if they found the man, they could turn him.

They just had to find him.

 

As Marshall pulled one of the throwaway phones from the bag Jeanine had left for him, Is opened her eyes.

"Would you like me to give you some privacy?"

Her voice was soft and pitched low enough that it seemed completely natural in the room.

"No need," Marshall answered, slightly intrigued. She was showing them a lot more trust than they'd shown her, he figured it was time to offer an olive branch. It helped that Mary was still asleep.

Is smiled and nodded, sitting up in bed but not interrupting.

Marshall held up a finger as if to say 'Hold that thought' as Stan picked up on the first ring.

 

Stan looked at the clock when the phone rang. 'Right on time.'

"Chief Inspector McQueen..."

"Stan"

"Marshall. Good news, we got the guy on video planting the device, but we still have to find him. How are you all holding up?"

"We're good. Still here, no new issues to report...the witness snores."

Stan smiled at that. Marshall was telling him more by joking than anything else. "Mary doing all right?"

"You know Mary, she doesn't like anyone trying to pull anything over on her... and well... you know how it is when they do manage to pull something off."

"I can well imagine. Look, we hope to have more information on this guy, call me back, same time tomorrow."

He paused, realizing Marshall was repeating the same instructions as he spoke.

"Yeah, yeah... you just watch it out there."

"Always Stan. We won't let anything happen to the witness... or each other."

As assured as he could be, Stan hung up. His inspectors were safe; their witness was safe- for now that was a win.

 

Marshall disconnected the call and turned the cell phone off. He'd given Isn't a pointed look when he'd commented on Mary's dislike of being lied to. The woman simply gave him a shrug. It was one of the hazards of working undercover.

"Nothing personal," he assured her. It was just the way things were.

Isn't nodded then looked around the room. "Should I put some coffee on?"

Marshall smiled. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. You have a preference for breakfast?"

Isn't shrugged, "Food's good."

Marshall smiled. After Mary's general nature, calm and accommodating was good. He didn't think he could deal with two volatile women, especially not this early in the morning.

 

Stan had just started to settle into his daily routine when his phone rang again. He wasn't entirely surprised to hear Eleanor's voice, but her greeting did worry him.

"Stan, turn on your TV: Channel 12, it hasn't gone National yet, but it's all over the local news..."

There was something in her tone of voice that told him things had suddenly gotten much worse.

He caught the 'next on...' section and balked. There was no way this could be good.

Mentions of drug rings, disappearing witnesses and gang involvement were made, but it wasn't until five minutes after the commercial break that the news story aired.

It was the longest five minutes of his life.

The lead off was a picture of Isabelle Manning.

"This woman was last seen in the custody of US Marshals, two days ago. Since then no one has heard from her. According to sources close to the investigation, her whereabouts remain unknown, but she is not the first federal witness to disappear..."

Stan watched his face paling. He had no way of warning his people..

"Stan?"

"We need to see what damage control we can do, but this breach... could be worse than the out and out leak."

"Have you talked to them yet this morning?"

He smiled. She'd worked with them long enough to know Marshall and Mary would keep in touch somehow and she'd done the job well enough that she'd learned not to question how.

"Unfortunately, they probably won't check in again until tomorrow."

Eleanor had the sense not to give him any platitudes. "Call me if things change."

"You too."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Mary awoke to the smell of coffee brewing and wasn't surprised to find Marshall standing in front of her waving the cup under her nose as if it was smelling salts.

"That smells good," she said as she sat up. Taking a sip she seemed to come to life. "It tastes even better."

"Isn't's doing... she added a little chocolate to the brew."

"You did say I had to start pulling my own weight," Isn't commented from across the room where she was lounging and nursing her own cup of coffee.

Mary raised her cup in salute. "You're hired..."

"I ordered pancakes," Marshall informed her as she started gathering her things. "But the clerk at the desk told me that the kitchen was closed by the fire board the other day... Something about the wiring..."

"Figures," Mary grumbled as she took another sip of coffee and headed to the bathroom to change.

"The manager did say that the waffle place down the street does passable Belgian Waffles... which I figured you wouldn't mind," he added a little louder, making sure Mary could hear him through the door.

"What did Stan have to say?" She asked, her voice muffled as she changed.

"They may have a line on the guy who planted the device... Other than that... just the usual, keep your heads down and call him in the morning..."

As he waited Marshall turned on the TV, hoping to get the regional weather and traffic reports. He had just settled onto the edge of the bed when Mary exited the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go.

"What are you doing?" she asked in disbelief.

Marshall gestured towards the TV. "I was..."

"Waffles are waiting.. chop-chop..."

"Never should have mentioned waffles," Marshall mumbled to himself as he shut the TV off and gathered his things.

"But you did so now we're going," Mary answered brusquely.

"Word to the wise," Marshall advised Isn't. "Don't get between Mary and her waffles."

This earned a smile from Isn't and a scowl from Mary.

Fortunately the promise of waffles saved him from an untimely demise at the hands of his partner.

 

Stan watched as the story was repeated at the top of the hour, this time supplying more information and more pictures and painting an even more worrisome picture of Isabelle Manning's fate.

He had tried everything he could think of to get in touch with Marshall and warn them, but he knew all too well that Marshall would have turned off the phone as soon as he'd finished the call. He had no doubt that his inspectors would adapt, but he hated feeling helpless when it came to their safety.

"Charlie," he called the younger inspector into his office.

"Yes S... Chief?"

"Charlie, I want you to call the Little Rock Field office, technical group... I need to know if anyone has accessed NCIC... called in any wants or warrants on Isabelle Manning."

"Yes sir... and then?"

"Then you stay on the line until they find that person and arrest them... do you understand?"

"Yes sir..."

He began working on a plan on how to turn this around, but there was nothing they could do the story had already aired and odds were it would go national very soon.

 

The diner was a simple one room affair, with the kitchen open to the counter area. Two waitresses and a cook worked the counter while a third waitress moved between the booths.

As Mary led Isn't to a booth, Marshall scanned the area before joining them.

"Doors. Side and front," he said quietly to Mary who simply nodded. There were only two ways in or out of the diner. The booth Mary had chosen gave them a good view of both.

"As long as one is available, we should be good," Mary replied in the same tone as she studied the combination menu place mat.

"Ooh, look, fresh strawberries," she said changing the subject.

Marshall rolled his eyes and shook his head. He knew it was an act and that Mary was ready for almost anything but it still made him feel like he was more chaperone than partner.

Charlie's annoyance was quickly blossoming into full fledged anger. "This is Inspector Charles Connor," he stated letting his anger tint his voice as he fought to control it the way he'd heard Stan and Mary do on more than one occasion.

"I am calling from the Albuquerque Field Office. We need to know who has accessed information on ..."

He paused as he was once again cut off.

"I don't care if that information is handled by the FBI... I'm asking you..."

"No... yes...Fine..."

He stared at the phone for a moment and then shook his head. 'Stan is not going to like this,' he thought to himself as he walked back to Stan's office.

"Chief," he called from the doorway.

"Well?"

"Little Rock said that that information is handled by the FBI and that we should call them directly rather then use their resources to do our dirty work..."

Stan looked at him expectantly. "And..."

Charlie looked at him, frowned slightly, then smiled. "And... I'm calling the FBI to see if they can get me the information."

Stan nodded. The kid was learning, but he was still too unsure to take the initiative. He gave Charlie another three months of working around Marshall and Mary before that ended.

 

The waitress arrived to take their order and Mary looked and was about to order her waffles when she noticed the TV behind them.

"Uhm... could you give us a few more minutes?" she asked, trying very hard not to stare at the screen.

The waitress smiled. "Take your time hon, just let me know when you're ready."

Mary continued to smile until the waitress had left them, then quickly turned to Marshall. "We need to leave now."

He frowned slightly, trying to figure out what was important enough for Mary to abandon the promise of waffles.

"Behind me and to the left," Mary explained, and waited for him to focus on the TV, all the while checking to see if anyone else had noticed yet.

It didn't take him long to see what had worried her.

"Oh... this is so not good..." he muttered as he watched pictures of Isn't scroll across the screen. "I'll get the check, you get to the SUV."

Mary nodded, already ushering Isn't out of the booth and leading her toward the door.

"Come on... we've got to go... now."

Her tone was urgent, but she moved calmly, keeping Isn't away from the customers' view. As they passed the TV, Isn't froze for a moment and Mary had to prod her along.

"There's nothing we can do about it now but keep moving," she urged.

No matter how bad things had seemed last night, they were that much worse today.

"Is?"

Once they were clear of the town, Marshall had back tracked his way around the town and headed in yet another direction. He was worried about their situation, but he was more worried about the woman's reaction, or more importantly her seeming lack of reaction.

The woman sat in the back seat, a stunned look on her face. "At least it's my picture... not Is's."

She was obviously shocked, but something told Mary she wasn't nearly as shocked as she should be. "Every member of Escobar's gang is going to be looking for you and that's all you can say?"

"I can say a lot more, but from where we're standing the point is moot. It puts you all in more danger because everyone's going to be looking for me... and the whole sitting duck thing doesn't sit well but..."

She sagged back into the seat before elbowing it angrily. There was a lot more she understood that she wasn't saying.

Marshall studied her for a few minutes before nodding. "No more undercover work."

"No, not for a while..."

"I think you should be more worried about the immediate consequences," Mary said studying the rear view. "We're about to have company."

 

While Mary pulled out her ID, badge and pistol, Marshall maintained a steady pace, scanning area for defendable positions should the need arise. All the while the police car gained ground on them.

He spotted a pull off ahead that would give them room to maneuver and started to head towards it when the light-bar on the patrol car lit up. As as the siren echoed around them, Marshall called out to Isn't.

"Is, you know the drill..."

Mary tensed, watching the patrol car approach as Marshall pulled well over the side of the road. Under normal circumstances their badges would have been more than enough to get them the clearance they needed, but now it was anybody's guess.

Isn't, for her part, flattened herself against the floor and pulled the ballistic blanket over her. She held her breath and waited.

A few moments later the patrol car passed them and kept going, obviously on his way to answer a call.

Mary was about to give the all clear when a second, and then a third car passed them. She exchanged a look with Marshall and nodded as he made a u-turn and headed the other way.

Five minutes later Mary gave Isn't the all clear with a relieved sigh. She didn't argue when Isn't commented that this was getting old. It was old the first day.

"Let's get out of here before anyone realizes they've seen Isn't..."

"No arguments here," Marshall said as he put as much distance between them, the diner and whatever the police were dealing with.

 

Their breakfast had consisted of cereal bars and coffee. It was quick and filling but did little to lighten the mood. The news expose had left them all wondering just how bad things had gotten and it seemed to loom over them as they drove.

It was Isn't who broke the silence. "Look, I'm still alive, none of us have been shot yet... so can we save the wake for later and focus on the things we can do something about?"

She gave them a wry smile. Their options were limited and all they could really do was play the hand out and try and make it work for them or fold.

Mary glowered at Isn't before putting her ear buds in and pointedly ignoring the conversation.

Marshall winced when he saw his partner's reaction. He knew when Mary was exhibiting restraint and he knew if he didn't diffuse the situation soon, that restraint would explode in spectacular fashion.

"That was probably the absolute worst choice of words," he explained softly.

Isn't sighed. "Story of my life… Care to tell me about it?"

Marshall studied her for a moment and finally took pity on her. "I was shot on a transport detail…Our witness turned out to be playing us…"

'Isn't' shot him a startled look and shook her head. Realization and understanding shone in her eyes.

Marshall met her gaze in the rear-view mirror. He was startled by the passion and concern that shone there. It was something that had been lacking in her cover image. She was allowing her real emotions to show, if only for a moment and this was not lost on Marshall.

"I got better."

Isn't eyes twinkled for a moment. "She turned you into a newt?"

Marshall stared at her for a moment and shook his head. He hadn't expected a Secret Service Agent to have a sense of humor, let alone be referencing Monty Python.

He caught himself wanting to stare into those eyes and forced his attention back to the road ahead.

' _Tensions are high, emotions tend to bleed over. Danger is an aphrodisiac,_ ' he told himself trying to dismiss all inappropriate thoughts that had threatened to flood his mind.

Fortunately Mary had chosen that moment to return to the conversation.

"Now you see why we reacted the way we did."

Marshall knew it was the closest Mary would come to an apology, and to his immense relief, Isn't had the sense to accept it.

_There are moments in silence when we say more than we ever would aloud: moments when our guard is down and no one seems to be looking; times when we stop searching for words and start looking for understanding._

_You can say you're sorry, tell everyone you're fine- but in the end, the truth lies silently waiting for us to just open our eyes._

_\- - Mary Shannon_

 

"Did you know that the word 'disguise' dates back to the late 13th century?" Marshall asked as he drove. "It actually comes from the Old French..."

As he continued Mary began to wonder why she'd missed Marshall's endless patter the other day. The answer of course was simple... it was Marshall.

Isn't for her part had remained quiet, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

"Marshall... I'm sure this is interesting but unless it's leading somewhere..."

"I was thinking... if we could disguise Isn't..."

There was a pause as Mary stared at Marshall as if he'd missed something very important.

"Think about it Marshall... "Isn't" is a disguise..."

She paused then turned to their passenger. "And you... explain again how your picture got on Isabelle Manning's driver's license."

Isn't looked up, startled out of her musing, answering with an eloquent, "Huh?"

"Your picture... Isabelle Manning's ID. How?"

Isn't shook her head, then shrugged."Standard undercover procedure: create the person on paper, give them a full background... document it. When you deal with identity theft and false ID's on a regular basis... you know what people look for and with the resources available.. well... we're very good at establishing a cover.

With Is it was even easier. We didn't have to create anything. We just... replaced my vitals with hers."

"So...the real Is…she could be a 6 foot albino for all we know..." Marshall asked going for the ludicrous.

"She could be... but in this case we went with similar builds and hair color. I mean Escobar has seen Isabelle, probably not enough to identify her, people usually don't really notice the people in the background. But they do notice the basics hair color, eye color height... build... "

"So... if you worked on looking like you..."

"I'd still look like the woman they showed on TV. My eyes are green, not brown and my hair is usually lighter, but I didn't really change that much. My disguise is more... acting than changing my appearances. Is is shy... unsure... I'm more... "

She paused as she tried to think of the right word, a smile coming to her face as her eyes looked around the vehicle. "not shy... expressive... "

"The sort of things that don't translate to a picture," Marshall suggested.

"The things that don't translate at all to a picture," Isn't agreed. "I mean... there are things we can do, but without plastic surgery, I'm still going to look like me. I'd still have the same identifying factors. The same spacing between my eyes, the same bone structure underneath."

"I mean... I could be a southern belle," Isn't suggested with a soft southern drawl. "Or an Australian, or I could be from Auckland New Zealand, "

Each time she suggested a nationality or area her accent would change.. "But, if someone's going on looks, it's not going to help. The accent could throw doubt into it, make them dismiss what they see.."

"But if they're opting for kill first, ID later... an accent isn't really going to help," Mary finished for her.

"Pretty much," Isn't agreed. She thought about it for a while then shrugged. "I could always go for a burqa."

"A bold choice but, I would recommend something a little more... ordinary," Marshall suggested.

"Guess that means the black balaclava and tactical gear is out..."

"Yeah. Besides the S.W.A.T. look is so 1970," Mary commented rolling her eyes.

Isn't smiled knowingly. "Eh, once they've seen you in tac-gear… they never fall for the 'poor and helpless ploy.'"

"Somehow I can't see many people falling for that with you," Mary said with a smirk.

"You're the first to see through me... kinda disconcerting"

Marshall laughed. "Don't feel bad, she has a sixth sense when it comes to people lying to her."

Mary for her part just smiled.

 

Stan let his breath out as he entered the FBI field office. Since the expose had aired, the call volume had increased exponentially. Because they were better staffed, the calls had been routed to the support staff here.

O'Conner greeted him with a terse nod.

When he didn't offer any information Stan prompted him, "any news?"

"Too much... I've assigned some of my men with the task of trying to find the 'confidential source close to the case' who leaked the witness' information, but so far they haven't gotten anywhere."

"If need be contact the ADA—it's their witness the leak has endangered. They should be more than willing to lock up the reporter for any number of charges regarding the report."

"I was wondering if you could do that since… I'm not the most popular person when it comes to requesting indictments…"

Stan paused, noticing that O'Conner was taking this personally. Thinking about it, he realized that when the agent had gone after Brandi and more to the point Mary, it wasn't Mary personally that had gotten to him, it was the idea of crooked law enforcement officers perceived or otherwise.

The key was to not let it control the investigation, but rather to use it to fire it.

"We will find that particular leak in the meantime we need to focus on the man who planted the tracking device."

"Tell me honestly Inspector McQueen...have you been in contact with your marshals?"

Stan nodded. "Of course I have. How can I do my job if they don't check in?"

"Have you talked to them about this?"

Stan closed his eyes and shook his head. "This came up after we talked, and since they're laying low, I probably won't hear from them again until tomorrow."

"How can you be so calm?"

"I know my Inspectors," Stan assured him. "And they know me. They know I will do everything in my power to help them, and to find the bastard who set them up. That means they don't have to worry about that end, and that will allow them focus on their job of getting the witness to Denver."

O'Conner shook his head. He knew Marshall would do practically anything for his partner and while he questioned the man's motivation, he knew that dedication to the job and his partner would be a plus.

"But…"

"No 'buts' Agent O'Conner, there isn't any other alternative I find acceptable. And I expect the same from inspectors."


	7. Chapter 7

 As Marshall continued to drive in a generally westward direction Mary focused on the situation at hand.

It was the first time she was actually thankful that the ADA had pulled the switch on them. If the pictures that had been leaked to the press had been those of the actual Is their job, after Is testified, would have been that much more difficult.

She knew Isn't couldn't be happy about her cover being blown, but unlike Isabelle, Isn't was in her current situation as an active choice and as a law enforcement officer she knew the risks involved with her decisions.

But now anyone seeking revenge would be looking for Isn't. She closed her eyes and let her breath out as she realized this was the sort of case that usually ended up crossing their desks.

"You know," she finally voiced her concerns. "Isn't may actually have to join the program because of this."

The shocked look on Marshall's face as he turned towards her would have been comical if the situation weren't so serious.

"Ironic isn't it?"

"That wasn't the first word I'd have chosen," Marshall replied sparing a glance towards their 'witness.'

"Me either," she agreed. "Ridiculous maybe… paradoxical…"

"Absurd?" Marshall suggested.

"Not gonna happen…" Isn't replied from the back seat. "No offense."

Mary turned and studied Isn't. "I'm serious here."

"I know. But 'Ain't gonna happen' is the answer I'm going with."

"Do you understand the gravity of the situation? This leak is great for Is, but it's just made your life all kinds of complicated."

"I know. But…" Isn't shrugged. "It's not really anything all that new. Just a new class of people trying to kill me instead of someone I'm protecting…"

"This is very different," Marshall assured her.

"I spent the last three months… being someone I'm not… one slip and I'm dead… sound familiar?"

Marshall mused over what Isn't had said and turned toward Mary. She had a point and they both had seen it.

"Maybe it isn't all that different," he admitted.

"But it doesn't change the fact that you're going to need protection."

 

Stan was tired when he finally got back to the office and had the chance to call Eleanor. Their tone was professional and determined. There wasn't time for pleasantries in light of the business at hand.

"Where do you want to start?" She asked without preamble.

"How about where you tell us you've rounded everyone up and our services are no longer necessary?"

"That would be a very short conversation, and a lie."

"No luck?"

"Still no further sightings of Mary's 'friend' from the federal building," Eleanor confirmed. "Has the ADA been able to file against channel 12?"

"He hasn't needed to as of yet, the reporter is working with us..."

"But?"

"The story was submitted online by an anonymous source. The reporter claims they researched the tip, but they can't reveal their source because they just don't know who it was. We have the FBI's Computer Forensics team going through their system now but they don't sound very hopeful. It's doubtful we'll get any more information on that end."

"Well... we'll see about that," Eleanor replied. "Any word on our people?"

Stan smiled. He liked the way she said 'our people' when referring to Mary and Marshall.

"No official reports on them so, hopefully, that means they've managed to avoid trouble."

"How are things with O'Conner?"

"Honestly... I'm not sure. I think he's on our side- but it could just be that he's found someone who annoys him more than Mary."

"That would take some doing."

"No, not really, just a crooked cop somewhere in the justice department."

"Hm. Makes sense I guess. You take care and I'll call you if I find anything"

"Same here."

 

"Do you have any idea how much this blows?" Mary asked as she continued to consider their situation.

Marshall gave his partner a sidelong glance. He could almost sense the rant that was coming and he had no idea how to avoid it he wasn't even sure he should.

"Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea... but please... feel free to elaborate."

"Think about it Marshall: we're protecting our fake witness from a real threat, meanwhile her partner, who we know nothing about, is protecting our very real witness from a very real threat that we know all too well. I mean... It's like a shell game, only there's a pea under every shell so no matter which one someone picks we're going to lose… "

Marshall watched and waited, knowing all too well that she was just getting started.

She waited just long enough for him to start to relax before continuing.

"And for all we know someone's already picked the shell and is going to pick again. I mean… how do we even know that the real Is is still secure? Have you thought bout that? We have Isn't's word on it, but how does she know. How can any of us know?"

She paused turning to Isn't. "How do you know she's still safe? One of us has been with you at all times...There's no way you could have communicated with him without us knowing."

"If anything happened to my partner... we'd have heard about it."

"How can you be sure?"

"One: I know my partner. He's not going gently anywhere. Two: he's a firm believer in peace through superior firepower... and he's packing a P90. If he uses it, it will make the news."

"Someone could get a drop on him."

"They could," Isn't agreed. "But..."

Something in her expression told Marshall she'd never thought about the possibility of her partner falling.

"And that is why I'm asking... where is he keeping Is?"

"I can't tell you."

"I thought we were past this," Mary growled in frustration.

"It's not a matter of trust or keeping secrets," Isn't assured her. "I really don't know. I purposely do not know where he's taken Is. He picked the location and set everything up himself. I made sure I didn't know just in case..."

"In case?"

"In case things went sideways. I can't give away what I don't know."

"Kind of pessimistic, don't you think?" Marshall asked.

"I'm pessimistic? Little Mary Sunshine here's the one saying no matter what happens we lose..."

Marshall's eyes widened and he quickly forced his attention back to the road. Making it perfectly clear that he wanted no part in whatever happened next.

Isn't had just enough time to realize her mistake before Mary reacted.

"You're a real comedian aren't you? Oh, look at the silly marshals while they run around trying to keep a fake witness alive… Do you think Escobar's going to worry if they got the right 'Is?' No, he's coming for you with very real guns, and very real killers who are willing to die for him… and you want to sit here and joke around when all you're doing is ticking off the only people who stand between you and those guns and killers ? You think I'm going to lay down my life… risk my partner's life… to save the very person who's endangering us in the first place?

Not now, not hardly, not ever!

You got yourself into this mess and you did it with eyes wide open. Did you really think this was going to be a walk in the park? Did you really think they were only going to shoot at you? No, because you didn't think about what you were doing. Someone says go and you go, but you still don't get it. Those were very real bullets that went where our very real heads were… and would have killed us just as dead, and you'd never have let us in on the punch line.

You better pray our witness is all right, because if she isn't you're going to suffer the same fate if I have to kill you myself… hell, I could just dump your self-righteous-prissy ass anywhere along the road and Escobar's people would take care of you for me and you know what? I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Not me, not Marshall and definitely not Escobar. So, you insipid, stupid arrogant moron… the joke is really on you… so yeah, if they kill you I guess we win, because we don't have to worry about keeping your sorry ass alive. "

Mary had been angry before. She had been livid. This was something far worse and far more dangerous. Marshall was fairly certain there wasn't a word for Mary's reaction other than 'never want to see that again.'

After several minutes of silence Marshall forced himself to relax. "So….anyone want to get something to eat?

When Mary turned and glared at him, he gave her an innocent yet smug smile. "What?"

"Idiot," Mary muttered under her breath.

 

Stan reviewed the information they'd gathered on their suspect: one Samuel Green. It was one of the thinnest folders he had ever seen.

According to his neighbors he'd moved in about a month ago, was quiet and kept to himself. His co-workers had said pretty much the same thing and aside from a speeding ticket three years ago they had found nothing.

He shook his head. There had to be something more to go on. People don't just disappear… at least not without help.

He was about to check in with O'Conner when the phone rang.

"McQueen."

Eleanor's greeting surprised him slightly.

"Stan, this is Eleanor. I've done some checking and it looks like our 'Samuel Green' from the Federal Building is not the same Samuel Green who moved to Arkansas to accept the job."

"Come again?"

"Samuel Green transferred from Georgia to Arkansas… Only the man who left Georgia and the man who arrived in Arkansas were two different people. When we were searching for him, we were using the picture on his Arkansas Driver's license. I backtracked through Georgia records and his speeding ticket and found the picture of a very different man."

"So…"

"So the real Sam Green never made it to Arkansas. I'm running a check through the morgues and local field offices to see if there are any John Does matching his general description."

Stan nodded, it explained a lot, but it also left a lot more unexplained and time was running out.

"See if you can get them to start running facial recognition at the Federal Courthouse in Denver. If he's left Arkansas, he might have headed to Denver, try and finish the job before moving on."

"All ready on it."

Stan was not surprised in the least. "Thank you."

 

Marshall knew that having vented in spectacular fashion, Mary was feeling better, but he could feel the discomfort radiating from Isn't. For the uninitiated experiencing this side of Inspector Shannon could be a bit overwhelming and he knew it was up to him to try and smooth things over: something he knew would be better done without Mary sitting right there.

 

 "I think I saw a sign for a sub shop," he said as he turned off the main thoroughfare and parked. "Mary, if you wouldn't mind picking up?"

"What? Are your legs broken?"

"No… but since Isn't can't go inside… one of us should stay with her… and I think… a break might be good for you."

"We could leave her in the car… crack the window… she'll be fine."

Marshall closed his eyes. "We can't do that… and you know it."

"Marshall… really she's not a witness. She's only pretending to be a witness. We can leave her here… pick up food."

This was not going to be easy.

"Mare… we have another two days where we need to get along and I would prefer all three of us get there more or less in tact… something you are greatly lacking at this point."

Mary rolled her eyes. "God, Marshall… it's not like I'd actually hurt her…"

"I know that… but I really don't want to have to break out the duct tape… for either of you."

"Fine. What do you want?"

"Italian… mayo… honey wheat if they have it."

Mary turned and glared expectantly at Isn't.

"Sounds good."

Mary held her hand out until Marshall gave her enough money to cover lunch and then gave Isn't a warning glare before exiting the car.

When he turned to explain, he was surprised to find Isn't watching Mary's retreating form, a slight frown on her face as if she was trying to reason something out.

"So… just between you, me and the light post," she began. "Your partner really doesn't get the whole... relieving stress through humor thing does she?"

"Mary..." he began, dragging the name out as he thought about his answer. "Is more of a direct approach sort of person. She's happiest when people say what they mean and leave it at that. Brevity... lightening the mood... usually denotes someone not taking the situation seriously enough and that's usually where things tend to... as you say... go a little sideways."

"And the rather... expressive... rant?"

"The rant is her way of relieving stress."

"Guess we're on the same level of play then, 'cause I can't see how that relieves stress... other than well…you know… not keeping things bottled up."

"It relieves her stress," he said emphasizing the word 'her.' "And that in turn makes things better for those around her... once she's cleared the air."

"You mean once she's induced a coronary on the unsuspecting recipient..."

"Somehow... I can't see you having a heart attack over this."

"No, just brain-locking on humor thereby creating a death spiral between my coping mechanism and your partner's."

"That… could be a problem"

"Yeah," Isn't answered knowingly. "Tell me about it."

They waited in silence until Isn't noticed the dollars store down the street. She smiled.

"I think I have an idea. Can I have a pen and some paper?"

"You really think this is going to work?" Mary asked as she scanned 'Isn't's' shopping list.

'Isn't' shrugged. "We have to try something, and this is the easiest and cheapest method I know. The dollar store should carry everything we need, plus I can do most of it here in the back seat… I'll just need a place to rinse later on."

Mary shook her head, "blue."

Isn't smiled, pleased that Mary knew exactly what she was planning to do with the kool aide.

"Yeah... blue. You hide people by making them blend in. I make them out to be a 12 foot gorilla so people ignore them."

"But... blue?"

"With purple highlights…"

Marshall gave them both a dubious look as he took 'Isn't's' shopping list from Mary.

1 Shitte Tonne Blue Raspberry Kool Aide Mix unsweetened.  
2 packs Grape Kool Aide Mix unsweetened.  
Vaseline  
Plastic Wrap  
Aluminum Foil  
Conditioner  
One set hair clips/elastics  
Black eyeliner  
Plastic gloves  
Safety Pins  
T-shirt  
Cold Cream  
Scissors  
Towel

He tilted his head, studying the list and frowning "Would that be a metric shitte tonne or imperial?"

"After a certain point... it really doesn't matter," Isn't answered.

"You do know that using Kool Aide as a hair coloring works better if you bleach the hair first…"

"I'm going for temporary here… not waiting three years for it to grow back to a manageable length and color…"

Marshall paused, thinking about it and then launched into a little known bit of trivia. "Interestingly, Kool Aide originally started as a liquid concentrate called 'Fruit Smack.'"

"Then the drug dealers sued them for copyright infringement ..." Isn't added, her expression innocent and knowing.

Marshall started to object then looked at Isn't. "And… that would be your coping mechanism kicking in wouldn't it?"

Isn't gave him a cheerful smile. "Your partner's coping mechanism and mine may not be compatible, but mine can definitely run circles around yours."

Mary for her part seemed to take perverse pleasure in Isn't's 'humor' annoying Marshall.

 

It had been two hours since Mary had bought Isn't the supplies she needed and the smell of Raspberry Blue Kool Aide was starting to drive her crazy. She had forgotten just how much everything smelled like Kool Aide afterwards.

Isn't had separated her hair into halves working with one side at a time. Once she had coated the left side she had braided it then pinned it up in a bun before working on the other side. Once she had her hair up in two buns she had wrapped saran wrap around it, holding it to her head and making her look more like a science fiction convention reject than a federal witness, or a Secret Service Agent for that matter.

Once her hair was… marinating in Kool Aide, their 'witness' had begun working on her t-shirt, cutting it in strategic places she would then suspend safety pins between the cuts, using them to both hold the cut together and decorate the shirt.

Now, two hours later they stood in the ladies room at a gas station as Isn't finished her disguise. She had removed the brown contact lenses she'd been wearing changing her eye color from brown to green.

She had rinsed the Kool Aide mixture out of her hair, and while it was still damp Mary could see the bluish hue starting to develop.

Isn't drew a deep breath as she held the scissors and prepared to cut a section of hair she had combed forward.

Mary watched as she brought the scissors up made to cut her hair then paused. After the third attempt Mary shook her head.

"That's it. Give them here!" Mary demanded.

Isn't eyed her worriedly and finally gave her the scissors.

"Close your eyes."

Isn't complied and Mary gave a slight smirk as she cut the woman's hair, giving her long, wispy bangs that would hang over her eyes.

"Geez, how can someone who willingly puts herself in the line of fire be such a baby when it comes to her hair?"

Isn't gave her a sheepish look as she pulled her bangs forward to inspect them. She was spared having to answer by Marshall knocking on the door.

"Are you ladies finished in there?"

Mary looked at Isn't then pulled out the final part of her dollar store purchase: a pair of cheap black sunglasses. "I thought this might complete the outfit."

Isn't put them on, took one last look in the mirror and took a deep breath. Mary could almost see the change as Isn't adopted a posture that went better with the neo-punk look.

Mary held the door open as Isn't shoved her hands in pockets and sauntered out of the bathroom. Neo-Punk-Isn't gave Marshall a scathing look before walking back to the GMC looking for the world like she really didn't care about any of it.

Mary simply shook her head.

"Our little girl is blossoming into a juvenile delinquent," she quipped.

"Just so you know," Marshall began. "If she starts boosting cars and driving like a maniac, I'm blaming you."

 


	8. Chapter 8

Stan looked up from his desk as O'Conner made his entrance.

"You are aware," the FBI agent began without preamble. "That we have resources dedicated to this case... you don't need to... work around us."

Stan shrugged. "Agent O'Conner, I didn't get to be Chief Investigator by focusing all my energies in one direction. I am not working 'around you', but I have resources you don't. Ones that think outside the box, and this guy... "

He shook his head. "This guy is so far outside the box we need all the help we can get."

O'Conner's eyes narrowed. "What have you learned?"

"Mr. Green, the real one, had the misfortune of transferring into the Arkansas office at the wrong time… He never made it. Instead we got the man who's been 'leaking' information. He was working as a low level tech. Nothing spectacular, nothing highly involved, or requiring more security that a tier one IT support tech would require.

He was responsible for several computers in the main processing area that had ongoing issues with e-mail and virus protection, which required him being on the floor... watching the comings and goings of suspects and witnesses alike."

"And the real Green?"

Stan shook his head. "We're still looking for him, but it's not looking very good." He paused letting the FBI agent take it all in.

"How about you?"

"The one surviving member of the first attack team has stabilized, but the prognosis is not good... The two shootings near Roland...preliminary reports are in and… I have to ask do Marshals Mann or Shannon carry any… extra weapons?"

"By extra do you mean a hold out?"

"Or a throw away…"

"They both carry hold out pistols, both registered and authorized."

"And they are registered with your ballistics people?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Ballistics has matched the sniper rifle to the shooting at the airport... and all other bullets found either match what we have for your marshals' side arms or were matched up to the assailants' we found on scene… all except those from a single unidentified .357"

"So… another assailant?"

"They don't think so…" O'Conner answered. There was something in his demeanor that told Stan that he'd come for more than just what they'd discussed.

"Agent O'Conner, I'm not a mind reader, and to be honest, I'm a bit tired from all of this, so if you have something else... please just ask."

"Remember, the report is only preliminary, but it looks like whoever the shooter was, they were on your side… would they have armed their witness?"

"God no," Stan answered without hesitation. "That's not the way they work and it would be asking for trouble."

"I thought as much but I had to check."

Stan nodded. "I appreciate your candor Agent O'Conner, is there anything else?"

"We do have something we're following up on, but it might be better done by your… out of the box resources."

His curiosity piqued Stan waited for details.

"We've had more than one report saying that they know Isabelle Manning and the pictures in the news report weren't her… with what you've said about Mr. Green…"

Stan felt a cold chill run down his back. "You're thinking that he's not the only one switching places?"

O'Conner gave sharp nod. "Do you know anything about this?"

"No, but I'm going to find out, I'll call you as soon as I land in Denver. "

 

Marshall looked around the diner. As the hostess led them to a booth he excused himself and headed towards the men's room.

It was a natural move, but Mary knew full well he was making sure the rest of the restaurant was secure. When they reached their booth Mary let Isn't in and slid in next to her. She gave a token complaint about Isn't wearing sunglasses, only to receive an exaggerated sigh and an eye-roll over the top of said glasses.

Mary studied her companion and shook her head. She wondered if Isn't even knew how to be herself at this point. It didn't entirely surprise her how quickly she'd gone from Isn't to Neo-Punk-Isn't. The body language... the mannerisms everything pointed towards a skilled chameleon.

It didn't really surprise her since Isn't had been selected for this assignment, but it was no less interesting to watch. Mary was good at assuming a temporary cover, a clever ruse but maintaining it was another matter. She wondered how long she'd last before she simply lost it.

Mary 'tied' to signal Marshall as he passed their booth, a signal that they were fine. Marshall for his part failed to see her, and continued to the far end of the restaurant. If he had seen a threat, he would have joined them, if she had signaled more noticeably it would have been his sign that she'd seen something, but they were still safe.

When he joined them he looked at Isn't. "It's easier to read the menu with the shades off."

Isn't gave him a 'no shit Sherlock' look over the top of the glasses and sighed dramatically before removing them and hooking them on the neck of her t-shirt.

He gave Mary a look that seemed to say 'See what I have to put up with' to which Mary shook her head. "At least she took them off for you..."

Marshall frowned slightly as he began to wonder if leaving Isn't alone with Mary had been a bad idea. "Did I miss something?"

"Just the usual study in surly," Mary answered nodding towards Isn't.

Marshall's frown became more perplexed, then gave a cautious smile as he thought about the changes Isn't had undergone in the last few hours. Surly was the word for Neo-Punk-Isn't.

Once the waitress had taken their drink order, he leaned in. "There's a Deputy at the bar, and it looks like the story's gone national. He looked me over, recognized me as law enforcement..."

Mary nodded then looked t Isn't. "we need a name..."

Isn't responded without hesitation, "Leia Fisher."

Mary almost smiled in triumph but was stopped by Marshall's pained sigh.

"What?" she asked knowing she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Carrie Fisher played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, not to be confused with the first trilogy which was made later and, to many, is considered the inferior story." he explained.

Mary closed her eyes as she fought the urge to kick both of them... repeatedly.

 

Stan was starting to get a headache. The first flight to Denver turned out to be a C-130 and turbulence had turned what would have been an unpleasant flight into something just this side of hell.

He'd called Eleanor en route, and when he'd told her his suspicion she' been more than willing to shake a few trees to see if anything came of it, but they'd both agreed that doing any facial recognition based on the news report would probably cause more problems than the information was worth.

As it was, he could think of two possibilities and neither of them were ideal. The first case had Marshall and Mary being set up as a decoys without telling them. The second, equally plausible explanation was that that the actual witness was an identity thief.

That first case would mean that someone knew there was a leak in the Arkansas Office and did not share that information thereby endangering not only his marshals, but the actual witness in question as well. The second case would mean that the witness had been compromised and the case was falling apart.

Either way there was only one person to contact: ADA Marlin. He hoped the man was ready to talk.

The phone rang twice before going to voice mail. His message was short, succinct and more than a little hostile.

"ADA Marlin, this is Stan McQueen. I'm at the Denver field office. I need you to get here as soon as you get this message."

The more Eleanor worked the problem, the more her suspicions grew. Something, several somethings to be exact were going on. She wasn't sure which bothered her more: someone trying to kill witnesses using their protection detail to follow them; using news reports and law enforcement to track them down; leaking the witness' vital information to the press or the fact that, from the look of things, the Isabelle Manning that had left the courthouse with Mary and Marshall was not the Isabelle Manning that had entered the program two months earlier.

It had taken her significant work to find information on the real Isabelle Manning and something told her that any attempt to identify the 'leaked' Isabelle Manning would result in more hot water than she wanted to deal with. Ever.

She didn't really need to dig deeper on the person, not when she could research the documents themselves. The level of detail, the quality of the documents, the depth of information all pointed to a well backed cover.

The documents were more than clever forgeries. They weren't just a case of placing someone's picture over an existing document, no these were authentic Ids, all perfect in every detail and that quality pointed towards an fully backed Federal Investigation.

Then there were the ballistics reports from the shootout at the quarry and the crime scene photos. She marveled at the fact that none of their people had been found at the scene and was eternally grateful as well.

The unidentified .357 rounds were also a clue. Federal Agents' weapons, police weapons for that matter were all cataloged and filed, but again- she did not have access to those records. That would take an official investigation.

It surprised her that no one had identified them as of yet, and that told her something as well. Someone was blocking access to the records. Someone was watching the investigation and playing keep away with the information.

Eleanor did not like games of keep away, especially when it meant people she knew, and though she would never admit it to Mary cared about, were endangered.

She had nothing solid to go on, and that told her what she needed to know. She wrote up her report and forwarded it to Stan over the secure server.

 

"Where the hell do you come off pulling this sort of scam on my people? "

Stan had barely closed the door behind the ADA before he'd launched into him. He hated his reputation as a closet hot-head, but there were times, like now, where he knew he'd earned it.

Marlin had been concerned when Stan called, but it quickly became apparent that his concern was entirely about his case. He refused to accept that it was not his job to investigate a possible leak and that the Marshal Service was not there to serve as unwitting decoys in a job that should have been handled by the FBI, not the Justice Department itself. Worse, he refused to accept that he should have left the security and protection of his witness to the people who were trained for that job.

Coupled with the fact that the marshals in question were his WitSec inspectors, there was no way this could end well for the ADA.

Stan could practically hear the ADA thinking as he prepared his counter offensive. Stan cut him off before he could even start.

"My people are trained to do whatever it takes to protect their witnesses, including risking their lives if need be. They have been blown up, shot... stabbed... but they have never lost a witness... and you have the audacity to send them out when you know they're going to be shot at, protecting someone I can only assume is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

Your 'witness' has the upper hand because there are two US Marshals standing between them and whatever comes their way. My people came into this expecting the usual threats one would expect on this job. By not warning them that the stakes were higher, that someone would most likely leak their location and people would be coming after them in force, you basically blindfolded and hobbled them before throwing them into a shark tank and if you think I'm going to sit still for this you've got another thing coming."

"You have to let this play out..."

"I have to do nothing of the kind. I'm calling in my people and you better pray to God that the real witness is safe and stays that way. You will turn said witness over to the US Marshall Service immediately and I will be lodging formal complaints. Are we clear?"

"We'll see..."

"There is no seeing. Your actions have endangered everyone involved. You endangered your own case by trying to find this leak.

That is not your job.

Your job is to prosecute, not to second guess the people tasked with protecting the witness. You want an investigation: you contact an investigative branch... OPR if necessary. You do not take it upon yourself to run roughshod over my people, you moron!"

The ADA tried to say more, but Stan had had enough.

 

Dinner was as pleasant as it could be under the circumstances. For the most part it seemed that they were not drawing too much attention, other than people trying to avoid staring at their blue haired companion.

Mary was surprised that Isn't ploy had worked as well as it had.

The waitress had been pleasant, but she had focused her gaze on Marshall and her note pad when she took their orders. Mary would have been offended if she weren't too busy laughing about it.

She had just started to relax when Marshall sat up a little straighter. Instantly alert, Mary scanned the area behind him.

His whispered, "incoming," was totally unnecessary and she began to wonder why he'd even bothered. She'd worked with him long enough that she could read it in his body language.

It took her a second to realize the warning had been for Isn't's sake not hers.

Isn't for her part slipped her shades back on and resumed practicing being aloof and surly.

It was the deputy Marshall had mentioned earlier.

"Evening folks," he said with a nod as he stepped up to the booth.

"Deputy," Marshall said returning the nod.

"Don't get many feds 'round here… I'm sure you saw the news report... Marshals traveling with a missing bank teller..." he said, obviously fishing for details.

"We're just… traveling…" Marshall answered in a non-committal tone.

"I understand- but I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't check..." he asked nodding towards Isn't.

He looked at Isn't who gave him a barbed look over the top of her glasses. "Do I look like a bank teller to you?" she asked with a sardonic smile.

"Not really ma'am..."

"Actually," she said dropping her voice to an almost conspiratorial whisper while still maintaining the sarcastic tone. "I'm a Secret Service Agent pretending to be a trouble maker just to make this trip more interesting..."

The scowl Mary gave Isn't was enough to make the Deputy take a step back. Their appearances, and manner screamed 'transport detail' to him, but this woman was obviously not the quiet mousy bank teller from the report.

"Sorry to have bothered y'all. You folks be careful then," he said taking his leave.

Mary shook her head in disbelief as Marshall pantomimed applause. "Well played."

Isn't gave a slight shrug, "sometimes the truth, when presented the right way, can sound like a lie."

"Now might be a good time for the check," Mary said. "…before he decides to come back."

 

They had driven for almost an hour but Mary didn't really relax until they'd left the deputy and more importantly his jurisdiction behind.

"That was a lot closer than I'd like," Marshall admitted.

"It's only going to get worse," Mary warned.

They remained silent for a while until Mary finally spoke.

"There's something that still bothers me about this whole thing," She stated.

"Only one thing still bothering you?"

Mary glared at Marshall for a moment before continuing. "Fine, there's something we haven't discussed that still bothers me."

Marshall spared her a glance. "Why put the tracking device on us or the fact that someone leaked information that shouldn't have been readily available? Or is there something else I haven't thought of"

"The fact that the hit team followed us, tracked us. Us, Marshall: he knew we were the transporting marshals. It means... he knew our procedures. He may not have known the witness, but he knew how we would handle the situation. Then there's the leak. That was… that was something different.

"You're thinking we have more than one group tracking us."

"Or one team tracking us and another trying to give us away."

As Mary spoke she turned pointedly to Isn't. She relaxed slightly when she saw Isn't's expression. She was actually considering the situation. Mary could almost see the wheels turn.

"But the documents that were leaked were the ones created by TOG," Isn't said, thinking over what she'd said even as she spoke. "Technical Operations Group… they handle surveillance, equipment, ID's and supporting data."

"So, either someone was trying to make life hard for Is and got the wrong documentation or..."

As Marshall trailed off, Mary finished. "Or someone wanted to make life hard for us and knowingly leaked Isn't's information."

"Okay," Marshall began. "We knew going in that we would be the transport team. The others knew they were the decoys. Everyone else should have been in the dark. Each of the flights we'd arranged were perfectly functional options. No one knew which plane we were going to take until we decided."

"Which is why he'd want to track the witness, but instead of tracking her... he tracked us. Why risk planting something on us? Why not Is?"

"Someone was always watching over her." Marshall suggested.

"So he had to know we were the actual..." She paused as she thought about it and then continued. "Oh… we were the ones in the observation booth..."

Marshall nodded. "The decoy teams didn't take an interest in the witness. They were only interested in keeping up appearances... outside the building."

"He was focused on us... did he even see Isn't?

After thinking about it Mary turned towards Isn't. "Was Is ever even there?"

Isn't shook her head. "I stayed with her for a week then took over right before the briefings began. By the time I met you, she was already in Denver. We got the confirmation report."

"We?"

"ADA Martlin and me. It was through my boss, but... "

"Your boss wouldn't set you up."

"No, he wouldn't."

"You trust your people."

"Isn't" nodded again. "Life of a UC, you have to. The team members are handpicked, thoroughly vetted and known quantities. You have to be able to trust TOS, your boss and your partner. If they aren't trustworthy..." She shrugged. "You're dead."

"And the ADA?"

"ADA's all about the case. Making a case, keeping it- building his reputation. I trust him make the case in court- but in the field... not so much. ADA Marlin's no different... no better, no worse."

"Do you think he could have leaked the information?"

Isn't thought and let her breath out slowly. "He could have- the real question is why would he?... Anyone with access to NCIC would have ..."

After a pause she looked up and met Mary's gaze, "I'm an idiot."

"You're just figuring that out?" Mary asked with a slight smirk.

"Yeah well... when we stop for the night... I'd like to check in with TOG. They should be able to at least tell us where the person was when they accessed my cover IDs."

"And how pray tell are you going to do that?"

"Do either of you have a laptop I can borrow?"

"It's not secure," Marshall warned.

"It will be," Isn't assured them. "It will be."


	9. Chapter 9

It was well after dark when Marshall called Stan's friend. They had just crossed into Wyoming. Mary was dozing in the passenger seat when Marshall pulled out the burn phone and dialed the required number.

"Spirit Tours," a cheerful voice greeted him.

"Yes," Marshall began. "A friend of mine recommended you. He mentioned something about your weekday getaways..."

"Certainly," the person answered. "We are more geared for the weekend, but we should be able to help you. Could you tell us your friend's name?"

"Stan McQueen."

There was a pause before the person replied his voice less cheerful but somehow much more real. "Please hold."

Marshall only had to wait about a minute before someone else picked up the phone. This time the voice was all business.

"Who is this?"

"Stan's friend... Marshall..." He answered then paused as he contemplated using his real name as opposed to his cover name.

Before he could say more, the man on the other end spoke up. "I have a place for you to stay, but I need to relay a message to you from Stan. He asked me to make sure that your phone was secure before doing so..."

Marshall took a deep breath. "Go ahead."

"He said there have been some 'interesting developments." The man paused, waiting for Marshall to acknowledge before continuing.

"He's guessing you know this, but he wanted me to tell you that the 'package has been re-routed to another delivery service and has arrived safely'... once you've 'checked in for the night' he wants you to call him for further information."

"Understood."

"Do you still want the special Stan arranged?"

"I believe that is the plan."

"Our office is in Medicine Bow just off route 30 … 23 Cottonwood Street. . I'll be waiting for you. Ask for Steve."

"I will. Thank you."

As he turned off the phone, Mary sat up. "Everything all right?"

"It turns out O'Conner is either a better investigator than he's previously demonstrated, or Stan's been giving him lessons."

Mary gave him a questioning look.

"According to Stan's friend, 'the package has been rerouted to another delivery service...'

Mary turned back towards Isn't. "It's over.. now will you tell us your name?"

Isn't closed her eyes for a moment then sighed. "You aren't going to like my answer."

"Why? It's over. Everyone else has figured out that you're not Is..."

"Like you said... the leak isn't really a leak. He knows how you operate but he's not law enforcement. Until we're sure we won't need me to be Is... I have to stay 'Is.'."

"We're all professionals here. We'll call you 'Is' at the appropriate times."

Again Isn't sighed. "It's not you I'm worried about. It's me. It's part of how I keep my cover straight. It's bad enough I've tossed a blue haired Leia into the mix... but as soon as people start calling me by my name… my real name, I revert to being completely me and we don't have the time I'd need to get Is back. "

Mary shook her head. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Oi, method actors," Marshall groaned.

 

Stan woke with a start as someone draped a blanket over him. He had fallen asleep in a borrowed office at the Marshal's Service's field office in Denver.

As he focused he was surprised to find Eleanor standing over him.

"What? ...Eleanor? What are you doing here?"

"I should have known you'd be burning the candle at both ends," she answered.

"How did you..."

Eleanor shook her head as if to say it was too easy. "You had your calls forwarded here. It was simple enough to figure out."

Stan stretched and started to get up only to find Eleanor guiding him to the nearby couch.

"Get some rest," she urged. "I'll wake you up if a call comes, but you've got to get some sleep if you're going to be any help to them when the time comes."

"But..."

She gave him a look that made him settle back onto the couch.

"But only for a little while," he said giving a token fight before settling in.

Eleanor dimmed the lights and took up the watch at Stan's desk.

 

It was late by the time they made it to Medicine Bow. Mary had taken over driving an hour earlier, which left Marshall in the perfect position to meet with Steve.

Marshall was fairly certain that that had been Mary's plan from the beginning.

He sighed as she dropped him off near the office in question. "You planned it this way didn't you?"

Mary gave a slight smirk and asked "How long have we known each other?"

"Five.. six years maybe?"

"Really that long? And you still have to ask?"

"You planned it this way," he said with a resigned, 'this is so not funny' laugh.

"Go on, be social... discuss the differences between Kirigami and Origami with him. I'm sure he'll find it fascinating. Isn't and I will just wait here.

Marshall started to reach for the door then stopped. "I know I said this the last time...and you ignored it... but please, for me... try and stay out of trouble..."

Mary rolled her eyes, and Isn't moved back into the shadows more. Marshall wasn't sure, but he could have sworn Isn't had had the sense to cringe at the reminder of what had happened the last time he'd left the two of them alone together.

He had to bite back a laugh when Isn't quietly asked from the back, "can I please have my gun back?"

It wasn't the plaintive tone so much as Mary's reaction to it that had almost made him lose it, but he fought the urge knowing all too well what would happen if he did.

He had learned a long time ago that the universe had a way of balancing things, and he was much better off when he had no part in the universe's balancing act when it came to his partner.

 

Marshall wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting when he entered Spirit Tours but he was fairly certain wood panels and 'western themed' were in there somewhere. What he got instead was a generic high end office complete with a minimalist reception area designed to keep visitors from the office proper until they were accompanied by a proper escort.

Though it was rather late Marshall found the front desk still manned. A rather athletic looking young man in a suit looked up at him and smiled.

"May I help you?" the man asked, his tone was friendly, if a bit mechanical.

"Yes," Marshall answered stepping up to the desk. "I'm here to see Steve."

"If you'll have a seat, he'll be out shortly," the man said, gesturing towards the sitting area as he spoke. After a pause he added, "I know it's late, but would you like some coffee?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

He was eternally grateful that Mary was still in the car when he heard the receptionist mutter "you certainly are."

Marshall focused on one of the magazines as he waited trying hard not to appear as tired as he felt. As he looked at the cover of 'Arizona Highways' he heard the man page a "Mr Robarth."

He didn't have too long to wait, which was just as well since he caught himself reading the same line over and over again.

Mr. Robarth was an older gentleman who would have been more comfortable in the western themed office of Marshall's imagining than the polished chrome and glass that surrounded them.

The man smiled and offered Marshall his hand. "Steven Robarth," he said introducing himself.

"Marshall Miller," Marshall said using his cover ID. If the man knew the difference he made no indication.

"How is Stan? He keeping out of trouble?"

Marshall smiled. It was hard to think of Stan as having been younger and prone to trouble, but he knew the man had a history.

"These days he leaves the getting into trouble to us."

Steve laughed. "Let's go into my office shall we?"

As they prepared to leave, Steve turned towards the young man at the desk. "Alex thanks for helping out. I have it from here."

"Certainly Mr. Robarth, Mr. Miller," Alex added with a nod to Marshall. His eyes lingered on Marshall's a little longer than common courtesy dictated a suggestive smile on his face, causing Marshall to give him a questioning look.

Once he was sure Marshall had noticed, he excused himself.

"Don't worry about Alex," Robarth assured Marshall as he led him back to his office. "He loves to tease but he's happily married."

"Good to know," Marshall said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, you aren't here for the nickel tour. I just had to keep up appearances. Stan said you'd need day or two to lie low, the fewer questions the better…"

"Yes sir."

"I have some cabins out of town... aren't in use much during the week. Locals are used to the rentals and won't ask too many questions."

"That sounds really good right about now."

Steve nodded as they entered his office. He gestured towards the conference table near his desk. Laid out around the desk were several floor plans, each with notes and pictures of the actual houses attached.

"Each of the cabins has certain amenities. I figure if Stan sent you: you might want to pick what will work best for you.

Marshall gave the man an appreciative smile. After everything they'd been through over the past few days, straightforward communications were a delight.

He had to give Steve a questioning look when he saw the floor plans for the 'cabins'. Two to three floor houses with pools and/or swim/spas didn't usually fit into the image of 'cabin' where he came from.

Steve smirked. "Cabins built for city folk," he explained.

Marshall shook his head and focused on the floor plans. They needed a place to regroup and the sooner the better. While the 'cabins' had the same features, each layout was slightly different and offered them different 'advantages.' He selected the one that had a better view of approaching vehicles and less glass than the others.

Steve nodded, then walked to the closet and pulled out two large bags of groceries.

"Figured you'd need certain supplies, like coffee and creamer… you know, the essentials, to tide you over till you can come to town and pick things up yourself."

"Thank you."

It was obvious the man had experience if not in law enforcement then in supporting law enforcement officers. Either way, Steve had just made his life much easier. The idea of Mary with no coffee was not a pleasant one.

"The phone is hooked up, but I wouldn't use it for... most things. Cable, internet, electric... everything a person needs when they're getting away from it all."

Marshall smiled at the man's teasing joke. Some people's ideas of 'getting away from it all' meant bringing it with them. In his case, it was just what they needed to plan out what as to come.

"Don't forget to call Stan," Steve urged. "He has not been taking this well at all."

"It has been an eventful week," Marshall answered wearily.

Steve handed him the keys as he shoved the unfilled paperwork into his briefcase. "Stay safe, and try not to get the place too shot up... "

'Definitely law enforcement,' Marshall thought. The humor was too close to the truth to be otherwise.

 

Mary kept a careful watch as they waited for Marshal. The last thing she wanted right now was anything vaguely resembling trouble but she a backseat full of it.

"So," she asked, trying to pretend she was making small talk. "You like undercover work?"

"There are parts I like, parts I won't miss once we're done... parts I will miss. It's probably time I get back to regular work, but I don't like having that decision made for me."

"Bet your family'll be glad."

Isn't chuckled and shook her head.

"Nice try." she commented in the tone of voice Mary was beginning to associate with the woman behind 'Isn't'.

Mary started to feign innocence then shrugged. "Had to try. What gave me away?"

"That whole social act, especially making small talk, just doesn't seem to be your style."

Mary shrugged. She'd known trying to get personal information out of an undercover agent who wouldn't even tell her her real name was a long shot, but it was something to do.

 

Stan awoke immediately when his phone rang. Eleanor just shook her head and handed him a cup of coffee as he took the call.

"McQueen "

"Stan..."

Again, Marshall's tone was cheerful; almost teasing, but Stan could hear the tones of exhaustion in his voice.

"You got my message."

"Yeah... we got your message."

"What do you want to do?"

"We're going to go over what we have... make an educated decision once we've rested. What about the witness?"

"She's secure and in our custody... although Agent Danvers isn't the type to let go until the job is done. Isabelle seems happier with him around. So for now her protection detail is plus one."

"If he's anything like his partner, you're probably better off letting him stay."

"That seemed to be the general consensus, plus his presence is good for continuity with the witness."

"How is she doing?"

"The witness? She's fine. Worried about the publicity and the problems you're having, but... They did do a good job of taking care of her."

"Stan, Mary and I did some thinking...whoever tipped off the press might not be our 'leak.' It might be someone else... trying to make this into something more than it is."

"And you're basing this on…"

"Everything we've seen seems to indicate the 'inside man' was targeting the witness through us. He was subtle. He put a tracking device on us and if the first attempt had gone as planned, I'm betting that device would have vanished. Leave no witnesses leave no sign of your passing seems to sum up his style. It's quiet and efficient.

This leak… it's direct and about as subtle as well... Mary. Two very different approaches, if you catch my meaning."

"I'll look into it."

"Isn't's going to have her people look into it from their end."

"Isn't?"

"It's a long story Stan..." When he spoke Stan could hear the exhaustion in Marshall's voice. "We'll tell you about it in the morning..."

"Make that the afternoon," Stan corrected. "I think we can all use the sleep."

"I'll have to agree with you on that one," Marshall answered. "And Stan… if you could: let Danvers know his partner's fine and in good hands."

"Copy that."

Stan hung up the phone and stared at it for a few minutes.

"How are they holding up?"

"A lot better than most," Stan admitted. "I think the attacker using them to get to the witness is bothering them more than the switch... but not by much."

"Knowing their witness is safe should help."

"It does, but it also means they'll be going on the offensive."

Eleanor nodded. It was what they did best. "What are we looking into?"

Stan smiled and shook his head. "They think out that the news expose may have been orchestrated by someone other than Green. Marshall pointed out that he was subtle while the news expose was anything but."

Eleanor nodded. "I'll make some calls and let you know if I find anything."

"Thank you," Stan said wishing there was more he could say.

Eleanor let the unsaid words hang between them and nodded. Maybe there was hope for them yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Isn't watched Marshall as he finished the call.

"Thanks for letting Mike know I'm safe."

"Figured he'd be worried," Marshall answered his gaze going to his own partner. "I know I would be."

Isn't nodded.

"What Mary said..."

"She was right: brusque, but right. I tend to forget Mike is as human as the rest of us. I think of him as ... infallible, unflappable... He's my lifeline when I'm under… and there's no room for him to be anything else... I had no way of knowing if he was all right."

She shook her head.

Marshall could see he was more to Isn't than just a life-line when she was undercover. He was also probably how she found her way back to herself after an assignment.

He started to ask about that, but stopped. She was still undercover, she was still trying to keep a link to the fragile bank teller they'd picked her up three days ago and he could see it fading the more they talked.

"What do you need?"

She drew a deep breath and nodded her appreciation. "There's a USB drive in my suitcase- If I can use your computer... hook up to the internet I can get Technical Operations working this."

 

Marshall suppressed a smile as he noticed Isn't's barely concealed excitement as he set up his laptop.

"Like I said, it's not secure..."

Isn't smiled and held up a silver USB device. "It will be."

"Just what is that?"

"Do you want the official answer or my version of it?"

"Both?"

Isn't smiled. "This is Nazgul, my office computer, or more to the point a virtual version of my desktop. It's a bootable USB version of the computer- with full encryption and security software installed... Password protected to the point that three failures result in the flash memory being fried... the body of the device is filled with epoxy to make things difficult for anyone trying to read the guts..."

Marshall smiled and nodded. After a pause he asked, "IronClad?"

"Ironclad." 'Isn't' confirmed. "You know your tech... Though I prefer I think of it as dark magic... hence naming it Nazgul... but yeah, TOG does some really amazing things and they know the hardware vendors to support us in the field."

 

**Two Days ago – Medicine Bow Wyoming**

Mary rolled her eyes as Marshall and Isn't, reviewed the maps of the area surrounding the courthouse. She wasn't sure which she hated more: the fact that the woman still wouldn't reveal her real name, or the fact that she and Marshall seemed to be talking shorthand about the situation and target areas, making her feel redundant.

"Mare, you've got to take a look at this," Marshall called to her as he turned the computer towards her.

She paused for a moment then realized they were using Marshall's laptop- only it wasn't Marshall's laptop. She shook her head.

"It's an encrypted, virtual USB version of my computer," 'Isn't' explained. "It gives us secure access to the files and programs we use in the field...'

"Nice," she said with half interest, until she saw the diagram of the area come to life. "Are those based on real traffic patterns?"

'Isn't' nodded.

Mary watched as the simulated cars passed by the courthouse. 'Look at that,' she said noncommittally.

"Mare, this is even better than diagrams with arrows. We can change the angle- look at it from our perspective, or that of a potential assailant..."

"Nice to know your loyalties can be bought with a piece of software..."

Marshall tilted his head and managed to arch his neck in such a way that indicated her 'oh so not subtle' jibe had not gone unnoticed.

"Is," he said. "If you will excuse us, I believe my partner and I need to talk."

Fake 'Is' for her part gave a single nod. "I think I need to go to the ladies room..."

Mary watched as the woman went to the bathroom and turned on the fan, giving them some semblance of privacy.

"Marshall, are you forgetting the whole part where she lied to us? Where she set us up?"

Marshall sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mare," he said looking her in the eyes. "She didn't set us up."

He stopped when her head snapped around and she glared at him. "Okay, she facilitated the situation, but like it or not, she was given an assignment just like we were."

"It's over now, we know who she is and she knows we're not the leak- the Marshal Service has custody of the witness... why are we still here, why is she still... "Isn't"?"

"You're not going to let go of this are you? God, sometime you're like a dog with a bone..."

"No Marshall, I'm like a dog who had a bone but someone took it away from me and gave me a piece of rope and told me it was a bone. The fact of the matter is the ADA stepped in and basically told us we weren't good enough to do our job and found someone he thought would be better... only no one is better at our jobs than we are."

"Mare, part of the Secret Service's job is protecting the President and foreign dignitaries from assassination. I think, of all the branches the ADA could have picked… her's is the next best thing to the Marshal Service.

"It's not the same and you know it... "

"Look, I know you don't like what happened. I don't like what happened either. But she broke her cover to save you, to save us. And as I see it we can either work with her, and maybe catch this guy, or we can eight-six this whole operation: say the hell with it and maybe they catch this guy maybe they don't, and maybe the next time he sets someone up... their escorts aren't so lucky. Maybe the witness dies... or another Inspector and I don't think any of us want that happening."

Mary paused as she thought about what he'd said. She shook her head and sighed. "All right, enough with the Jedi mind tricks... I'll let up, but I'm not going to like it and I'm not going to forget."

Marshall relaxed slightly. That was something he could deal with. "That's my girl."

She gave him a sidelong glance then nodded towards the bathroom. "Better let Princess Leia out of her cell before she builds a cannon out of a can of hairspray and a plunger..."

"I love it when you mix your geek metaphors."

Mary continued to watch the simulated traffic as Marshall retrieved 'Isn't'. She had to chuckle when she overheard them talking on the way back.

"Is she going to be all right with me?"

"She'll work with you on this- although some form of mortal combat, preferably the kind that leaves you devastated and utterly humiliated may be required afterward...'

Isn't seemingly taking in stride replied, "I can live with that."

 

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Isn't began as she studied the floor plans for the federal courthouse. "I know on a protection detail, our playbook says – have at least two ways in and at least three different ways out. Anything looks wrong, you go to your secondary entry- if that's blocked you abort. Same with egress. I'm assuming your SOP is pretty much the same?"

"The protocols are different," Marshall answered. "We minimize the risks, go to secondary entry, or tertiary..."

"Bla, bla bla Marshall. Yes. It's pretty much the same playbook," Mary interrupted.

She was developing a grudging respect for Isn't.

While the agent lacked some of the finer points of witness protection, like never risking the witness and never endangering the protection detail, she had defensive tactics and threat assessment down pat. Once she and Marshall had picked out the sniper positions and counter sniper points outside the courthouse, they'd begun working on what might happen inside the courthouse, taking turns plotting how to kill Isn't, and how to stop her from getting killed.

Mary was actually enjoying this part of the planning- probably because she seemed to have the high score when it came to ideas on how to kill Isn't.

After about an hour, they'd run out of ideas and were starting to repeat themselves. Marshall called a halt. "We need to take a break... look at this when we're fresh," he suggested. "And we need to decide if we're really going to go through with this."

Mary looked at Marshall in disbelief and shook her head. Her lip curled slightly as she gave him an incredulous look. "Why else would we be planning things out like this?"

"So... that's a 'yes' vote from you."

Mary rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

Marshall gave her a sidelong glance that spoke volumes about what he thought but he said nothing on the matter.

Mary simply nodded.

"Isn't?"

Isn't paused for a moment before she realized they were talking to her. "I don't really have a vote here... I go where you two go."

"I'll let Stan know," Marshall said with a resigned sigh.

Isn't shot him a questioning look, frowned for a moment, then smiled as she realized the simple fact: Marshall would back his partner up no matter what, even when common sense dictated otherwise.

In that glance he also saw recognition and acceptance of his partnership with Mary. Part of him wondered if that recognition involved her own partner or not.

 

As Stan waited for Marshall's call he began sifting through the reports he'd received since the last time they'd talked. Things were getting more complicated now that the ADA was 'helping' and the Secret Service had begun lending their assistance.

It was difficult enough co-coordinating information between the FBI investigative team and the people from the Denver field office but adding the others into the mix meant having to keep a tighter rein on the investigation just to keep them from duplicating efforts and having something important fall through the cracks.

He'd already received reports from the Secret Service's TOG and the FBI field office that there had been warrants checks made through NCIC on Isabelle Manning. The first reported by the Secret Service had been initiated by someone from the Denver Federal Court House accessing the NCIC records for the witness based on Name, birth date and driver's license. Then someone from the TV station's IP block had repeated the check based solely on name and date of birth. The FBI reported pretty much the same thing with one major difference. Someone had done a check on Isabelle Manning a week before, before the ADA had called the Secret Service for an undercover agent.

The duplicated effort was almost but not quite a waste of time, but because they were looking for different things. The Secret Service was looking for counts of people accessing the doctored versions of the Isabelle's records, while the FBI was looking at all NCIC requests.

Then there was the question of timing. The story had been leaked sometime late that first day, while Green was still in Arkansas. That lent credence to Mary and Marshall's theory that the story was leaked by someone other than Green. Based on that fact and the pre-change search Stan had a very good idea who had done the leaking.

He also knew now was not the time to act on that front. Accusations could wait until his people were safe and the threat to the witness was down to a manageable level. In the mean time he had three major fronts to work on with this case.

There was the investigation which he was letting O'Conner run with his direction. They needed to build a case against the fake Green. They needed to know who had hired him, and they needed to know if he was going to strike again.

They did have an advantage in that 'Green' seemed to be the type to like to clean up after himself, and that meant he wasn't finished.

The other faces of the case were both protection details of sorts. There was the protection detail with Isabelle Manning, and the protection detail with the UC.

The Marshal-in-Charge of Isabelle's protection detail reported that the witness was secure and that Agent Mike Danvers' original plan for bringing the witness to the courthouse was, to quote the marshal, 'sneaky and so simplistic it's probably going to be the best way to get her there'...especially if Mary and Marshall went through with delivering the undercover agent to the courthouse in her place.

The more he thought about it the more he wanted to talk them out of it, he'd seen the aftermath of at least two attacks were, at the very least they should have been injured. That they had survived the second attack was nothing less than a miracle and now they were actively seeking another confrontation. The odds weren't in it, not that Mary and Marshall would ever consider the odds. No, his marshals would take this whole mess as something personal.

He wondered for the umpteenth time that day if he could talk them out of it, but he knew it wasn't really his call. They were the field agents who had a better picture of what they were up against. He was, as Marshall had once said albeit teasingly, a big picture kind of guy.

He wasn't sure where the ADA fit in all of this, other than wanting to make sure he put Escobar away, but at least the Secret Service as pulling their weight. Agent Danvers had made it clear to the MIC that if they wanted anything from his people all they had to do was ask.

He thought it interesting that Agent Danvers was 'Agent Danvers' while his partner was either 'his partner' or 'the UC.'

He understood that some of it was for the protection of the UC, but with her picture being featured in multiple broadcasts, her career as an undercover agent was pretty much compromised. In fact at this point the only thing going for her was his marshals.

At least Danvers didn't argue about that. He knew full well that his partner's safety was in their hands. In talking to him, he did find out some rather interesting facts, not the least of which was the fact that the ADA had presented his case as sanctioned by the Marshal Service.

He knew he hadn't been given any information about the investigation, but if they'd suspected a leak, the investigation would have been initiated at the highest level. He put in a call to Allison Pearson's office but she hadn't returned his call.

That was another thing that bothered him: trying to get through the bureaucracy in time to get anything to help his people in the field, there were just too many people with their own agendas here and it was starting to annoy him.

He was contemplating calling Allison again when the phone rang.

"McQueen."

"Stan!"

"I thought you said you'd call this afternoon."

 

Marshall smiled when he heard the gruff tone in Stan's voice as he answered. "And good morning to you too Stan."

"Everything is in place just tell me what you need."

"I'm going to be relaying you some information. It will be coming through the Secret Service's Technical Operations Group..."

"What you can't just email me directly?"

"Stan, this guy is tracking our witness through us. He was able to pass unnoticed through a federal building and email is not secure especially not from the field. My system is nowhere near as secure as I'd like and I'd rather not take chances."

He could almost hear Stan mull that over for a bit before moving on. "What's the plan?"

"Isn't... the Agent... she's got access to a secure server and a support team to see that the message gets through with limited chances of a breach.

"Fair enough, what are you thinking?"

"This guy, he could target us anywhere, but since we broke with SOP, he has no way of knowing where are. This only gives him one chance before the trial. That means the confrontation, if it's coming, will happen there. Let's face it, we could be anywhere, but he knows we have to be at the courthouse by 13:00"

"You think he'll hit you on the way in?"

"He has to try, and at this point it's the only option left open to him."

"We'll be ready for him."

"That's the sticky point Stan"

"You want to catch him in the attempt..."

Marshall could hear the concern in the older man's voice, but it was their best chance at catching 'Green' and making the charges stick. The fact that they were using themselves and Isn't as bait wasn't lost on him.

"Stan, he knows how we operate and he's been using that against us from the start. He knows our standard operating procedures and our contingency plans. He knows how we'll react to any given situation... we come in any way other than by the book, he's going to know."

"Do I need to remind you that this isn't really your job?"

"We've thought about that Stan, but since a) he's targeting us and b) we don't have a real witness to protect... we're in the perfect position to do it."

"I still don't like it."

"I know but it's the only way we're going to get this guy."

He spent the next twenty minutes explaining their plan while Isn't sent the supporting documentation to her TOG for them to relay to Stan.

As he began to explain the plan, he felt an odd comfort wash over him. One way or the other, this would be over in less 24 hours and something told him it was going to be an interesting 24 hours to say the least.

"Just let me know when you reach the state line and I'll have Colorado State Patrol waiting to escort you to the courthouse.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll contact you when we settle for the night."

"Be careful."

 

Stan offered up a quick prayer to whoever watched over fools, children, and especially foolish children like his inspectors. He tried not to think about the Dodge Dart they'd been driving and the bullet hole that should have killed whoever was driving the vehicle.

Somehow they had managed to survive, but he really wasn't sure how other than plain dumb luck.

The fact that that they'd even made it this far was bordering on miraculous, asking for more was quite simply pressing their luck beyond anything reassembling reasonable.

He forced himself to focus on the situation at hand and as he did he saw the incoming message appear on his screen.

It was the information Marshall had promised, at least, he assumed it was.

Any concern he had that they hadn't thought this through vanished as he began sorting through the diagrams, narratives and scenarios they'd worked their way through along with a detailed threat assessment to themselves and the real Isabelle

He also had to agree with the possibility of someone feeding the man inside information. The plans for each of the different scenarios included ways of trying to fish them out as well as codes, frequency changes and bait for the inside man.

They still had a long way to go, but Stan was finally beginning to feel like they had a chance of not only coming home safely, but putting an end to the assassin's career.

 

"Eleanor…it's Stan. Could I interest you in lunch?"

Eleanor was more than a bit surprised when Stan called her just before noon. To be fair, she was expecting him to call, but later, after he'd talked to Marshall.

"Stan," she asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything fine," he assured her. "I was just hoping we could get together for lunch… maybe go over a few things."

She paused looking at her paperwork and thinking about Stan's choice in words. She smiled to herself before replying.

"They called early."

"Yes, but what makes you think I wouldn't call you about going to lunch if they hadn't?"

"You," she answered in a matter of fact tone. "If they hadn't called you'd be sitting by your phone waiting for them to call you back and you would not be thinking about lunch."

She smiled at the silence that followed her statement as Stan thought about what to say.

"I'm not that bad…" he finally objected. "Am I?"

"When they're in danger… when any of your people are in danger? Yes you are Stan…" She paused then took pity on him. "I'll meet you in half an hour."

"Where?"

"I'll pick you up."


	11. Chapter 11

"So," Marshall said as he sat down next to Isn't. "Nazgul..."

Isn't looked up from the computer and waited expectantly.

"When this is over… do you think…" He stopped, realizing that what he wanted to ask, what he really wanted to talk about would be asking Isn't to forget Is and be herself—something she'd already pointed out was not in their best interest especially if they wanted her to maintain the role she was currently playing.

'Isn't' looked up, her eyes meeting his quickly shying away, "I think I'd like that."

He nodded. The woman who quoted Monty Python, who liked Star Wars and word games… who named her computer based on the imaginings of J.R.R. Tolkien, would have to wait until they'd played this assignment through to the end.

It was something to look forward to.

 

Mary paused in the doorway before slipping back into the kitchen. She thought about what she'd just witnessed and shook her head. She had never seen Marshall quite so… interested except maybe when he'd given her his historical 'messy' speech. This was more than finding himself attracted to someone he'd known, or finding someone he was attracted to…

This was… she wasn't sure what it was, but it was interesting.

'Geek love,' she muttered to herself as she took a bite of her sandwich. She wasn't quite sure why it seemed to lodge in her stomach, but dismissed the feeling as stress over their current situation.

 

Eleanor was surprised when Stan avoided talking shop until they had finished lunch and were lingering over coffee and dessert.

She'd taken him to a quiet café she knew where they could talk business if he wanted, but he'd insisted on eating and spending time with her before they did anything else.

It was one of the things she missed about working with the Marshal Service. There were times, like today, she regretted taking the job as an analyst, but as she thought about it—it was better this way.

The distance hadn't changed her feelings towards Stan, just as time hadn't changed the way she felt about her husband. If anything the distance had made their time together that much more precious, and if they did end up together, there would be no need to worry about impropriety.

Still, she missed moments like the quiet meal they'd just shared.

"Alright Stan, this was nice but…" She paused: they had work to do and people who were still in danger no matter how much they wished otherwise.

"Next week," Stan promised. "After this is over…"

She smiled and held her hand out expectantly. "What have the troublemakers uncovered?"

Stan shook his head. "It's not them—for once I think they have a very good handle on what's going on around them… there's just…"

"Just what?"

"There's something here that doesn't add up. I don't know what it is—but it's just wrong."

Eleanor nodded encouragingly.

"There's just too much going on," he finally stated. "If that makes any kind of sense. There's Green, or whatever his name is trying to kill the witness. Then there's the leak… even the investigation doesn't make sense."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?"

 

They spent the next few hours trying to relax and prepare themselves for tomorrow's trial as best they could.

They couldn't afford to take too much of a break, but they all knew they needed to take some time now to recharge so they would be at their best when the need arose.

Marshall found it interesting that Isn't spent most of her time playing mindless computer games, achieving an almost zen-like state as she fired marbles at increasingly faster moving chains of colored balls trying eliminate the chain before it ended its circuit around the screen.

Mary seemed to find her release in trying to distract Isn't long enough for one chain to get through and it had become one of the most heated computer games he'd ever witnessed.

Marshall for his part focused on the remains of a memo pad that now resembled a menagerie of origami animals rather than scratch paper.

Once they'd eaten a simple dinner they began breaking camp and preparing for the drive to the Colorado line.

As much as they all loved the 'cabin', they'd agreed it was better that they break the remaining 10 hour drive up, arriving at the courthouse a bit fresher than they would if they had driven straight through.

 

Stan mulled over the facts as he'd presented them to Eleanor.

Telling her what had happened had forced him to put things in order and look at what they had and more importantly what they didn't have. When he finished he realized that the piece that didn't fit in the whole puzzle was the investigation into the leak.

It involved a real witness and an undercover agent who didn't just pose as the witness: she took over for the real witness. She matched the witness' general build and went the step further of studying her.

Why?

With how quickly they'd found the leak… why did they need that detailed an agent? It just didn't add up unless Marlin was expecting something far bigger than a simple leak.

'A conspiracy?' He wondered

He shook his head and placed another call to Allison Pearson's office. He was surprised when his call was answered directly.

"Chief Inspector McQueen, I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Things have been a little chaotic here. How can I help you?"

Stan took a deep breath as he decided on the tact to take.

"Did you know that someone from the Justice Department has been investigating a potential leak at the Marshall Service?"

"No," she answered, obviously as surprised as he'd been. "And isn't that thfe sort of thing that OPR would handle?"

"Normally yes… It's the sort of thing I'd expect you to know about."

"Well I don't, so please tell me everything."

Stan took a deep breath, again thankful he'd gone over all of this with Eleanor after lunch. By the time he finished Allison was irritated and suspicious. She'd been in budget meetings and this had been the first break she'd had all week.

While it was possible that Marlin had taken things into his own hands since he wasn't able to get a hold of the Director—it had begun long before the budget hearings.

The timing, again, was wrong.

"What do you want from me?" Allison asked.

"I need you to get OPR in on this, and I need a full run down on Marlin. This whole thing stinks to high heaven."

"I'll start the ball rolling, and thank you."

"For what?"

"For asking me instead of assuming I'd do something that would endanger you or your inspectors."

Stan hung up, refraining from telling her that the thought had crossed his mind.

 

Mary stood watch over Isn't while Marshall made a sweep of the room.

She knew that tomorrow, Isn't's part in this routine would be over, but if everything went according to plan, she and Marshall would still have their hands full protecting the real Isabelle Manning.

It was strange, knowing that the real work that lay ahead of them actually made her feel better. Thinking about it Mary realized she was comfortable with it because it was the danger she knew and understood.

This whole cloak and dagger work was driving her up the wall.

As they settled in for the night Mary returned Isn't pistol to her. "You're going to need this" she said before adding. "You have first watch. Try not to shoot yourself… or us."

Isn't rolled her eyes as she checked her pistol and finally nodded. After the ambush she was down to 5 rounds in the clip.

"I'm guessing you don't have any .357 rounds…"

"Sorry… I'm fresh out," Mary said with a big fake smile and a shrug that seemed to say 'It's not my fault you guys use incompatible ammo.'

 

**Friday Morning – Colorado State Line**

Mary woke to the smell of coffee brewing. She sat up when she heard Marshall speaking softly. It took her a moment to realize Marshall was on the phone and from the sound of things Stan agreed that there was something else going on.

They hadn't talked about it, they didn't need to. They could both feel it and judging by Marshall's side of the conversation Stan had felt it too.

The problem was it wasn't really anything they could really define other than the feeling that there were more forces at work than the obvious ones.

She sat up as Marshall shut the phone off and starting packing his things. She wasn't entirely surprised to see Isn't sitting at the small table by the window, splitting her attention between the TV and her gun which lay in pieces on a hand towel. She was meticulously cleaning piece and laying them out in front of her as she finished with them

She grumbled her greeting before heading to the bathroom. By the time she was dressed, Isn't had reassembled her weapon and was holstering it.

It was another brief glimpse at the woman behind Isn't. Mary was beginning to understand the balance the woman was trying to keep. Some things were automatic, and some of those were so diametrically opposed to the image of a scared bank teller that they had to be suppressed.

Marshall on the other hand was as centered and calm as ever simply waiting.

The thing she liked the most was the fact that she didn't need to say anything. Marshall handed her a cup of coffee and they were off.

 

As promised there were two Colorado State Patrol officers waiting for them at the state line. Mary pulled in behind marked vehicles and studied their drivers for a moment before turning to Marshall.

He greeted her worried look with a gentle easy going smile. "This should be straight forward."

As he reached for the door Mary drew her gun and rested a hand on his arm. "Straight forward and this assignment haven't been in the same neighborhood since we left."

"It will be all right," he said enunciating the words. "If it isn't, you take Isn't and get the hell out of here okay?"

Mary glared at him for a moment before allowing him to go but Marshall didn't move. He looked at her, patiently waiting for her answer.

"Alright, alright... geez.." she agreed in an annoyed tone.

Only then did he exit the SUV.

As soon as he closed the door behind him she muttered under her breath, "right after we haul your ass out of there."

Isn't's quiet 'Amen' only made her smile.

It was another point they could agree on.

 

Marshall exited the SUV and studied their surroundings. Despite his calm reassurances, he kept his hand close to his pistol just in case.

He had to smile when he recognized one of the men, Trooper Carlton. Carlton had had the misfortune of hitting on Mary a month earlier in Boulder when they'd been on a similar detail. It had not gone over well.

"You know… ", the trooper teased. "When Stan warned us you'd had a tough week, I was thinking it was just Mary being particularly... Mary-like."

He indicated Marshall's hand and defensive stance. "I'm guessing it's been a lot worse than that."

"You have no idea," Marshall answered with a slight drawl. "We just want to get the witness to court and out again safely."

"That's why we're here. You let us worry about getting you to the building—inside it's all yours.

"Thank you," he said as the trooper handed him a radio.

While Marshall adjusted the radio, the trooper unfolded a map and positioned it on the hood of his car.

 

Mary watched as the troopers worked with Marshall and gave him a run down on their plans. She could sense Isn't watching them as well, in a very un-witness like manner taking it in, weighing the risks.

She'd seen the way the woman broke down the scene around the courthouse and realized it made sense. Tactics and threat assessment were as much a part of her life as it was a marshal's.

"What do you think?" she found herself asking.

In this case it wasn't small talk. Mary wanted to know what Isn't saw, and to make sure the threat to them, and more importantly Marshall, was limited.

"Good cover… good view of the surrounding area. They know their business and the lay of the land. Traffic's been slow… wind is out of the southwest… maybe a mile an hour… if that… he's got a good view and is keeping the vehicles between him and any potential threat…"

Mary thought about Isn't's answer. She had come up with pretty much the same opinion but with a lot less explanation to back it up. The fact that Isn't had picked up on wind speed and direction did not go unnoticed. Mary filed it away with the other information she'd been gathering.

 

Marshall reviewed the trooper's plans carefully comparing them to the notes he and Isn't had made the day before.

"We'll be on tact two," Carlton informed him as he handed Marshall a radio for Mary. "I'll be in the lead then you. Trooper Martinez will take the rear. We'll be joined by two Denver PD units when we reach the city limits."

Martinez nodded before taking over the narrative. "There's a protest in front of the courthouse, capital murder case with the death penalty in play… so we'll head for the sally port. It only has two potential danger zones...here," he said pointing to one of the buildings. "And here..."

Marshall scratched behind his ear, noting that they'd picked the two points he and Isn't had noticed right off, but there was a third that qualified more as a trick shot that a standard threat. Trick shot or no, it was a potential danger zone.

It has interested him that they'd both hit on the point from different angles. And both had agreed that if the sniper knew what they were doing it would be very sneaky. Most people thought of sniper threats from above... very few from a low angle shooting in an upward direction.

He accepted their plan, knowing to do otherwise would be to break from protocol, and that was something Green would be looking for.

The briefing was short and to the point. They all knew one of the most vulnerable positions right now was being outside their vehicles.

"Thank you gentlemen," Marshall said before heading back to the SUV.

 

Mary looked at the clock as they approached the courthouse. It was just past 11:30, an hour later than planned thanks to the protest.

"And here we are…" she commented, taking a deep breath. She knew all too well they were about to enter the spider's trap.

She was about to comment to that affect when the radio squawked to life.

"Bantha One, this is Bantha Two… The protest has spread to the area around sally port...We're going to have to go in through the tertiary entrance... do you copy Bantha One?"

Mary glowered at Marshall and shook her head. "From now on, you are not allowed to assign code names... to anything… ever."

"Bantha One," Mary muttered under her breath shaking her head.

Marshall gave her a smug bemused look.

"How do you live with yourself?" She demanded of Marshall.

"And you..." She added turning towards Isn't. "Don't you dare encourage him."

Having only been able to hear Mary's side of the conversation, Isn't was completely confused, but that didn't stop Mary from accusing her of having a part in his game.

"Bantha One, do you copy," she heard 'Bantha Two' call.

Mary rolled her eyes. "You planned this… you answer because there is no way I'm going to refer to myself as Bantha anything… Numbnut!"

Marshall simply smiled before keying the mic. "Copy that Bantha Two, diverting to tertiary entrance.

Once he was done he looked at Mary as if to say, 'see how easy that was?'

Mary for her part ignored him and followed the Denver Police car and State trooper into the underground garage.

They wound their way down into one of the restricted levels before finally parking. She remained in position, engine running until the troopers gave the all clear.

When they did, Marshall looked around and asked, "Feel like taking a walk?"

"At this point, I feel like getting this over with," Mary muttered under her breath.

"Is?"

Their passenger looked up, a slight smile crossing her face as Marshall used her cover name, rather than their perversion of it.

"I'm going to have to agree with Mary on this, with the caveat that..."

She stopped mid sentence as Mary turned to glare at her.

"More than ready."

There was something in her movement that told Marshall she was more than ready to risk her life, but reluctant to risk theirs. He was startled when she bowed her head for a moment, and when she looked back up he knew she'd assumed the mantle of 'Is.'

The way her eyes darted warily made his heart ache.

"Marshall, focus... it's an act," Mary reminded him gruffly.

Only Marshall realized it was much more than an act. Isn't was more than just acting afraid. She was making herself feel it—assuming the role of a scared woman who saw something she shouldn't have and was now about to face the man who'd tried to have her killed because of it.

It was far more than pretending to be 'Is'. It was more like the USB version of her computer loading instead of whatever made her well… Isn't. She was allowing herself to become a virtual version of Isabelle Manning.

He forced himself to remember that there was one major difference: Isn't herself: Isn't was in the background, watching over the proceedings, ready to jump in with both feet should the need arise.

He smiled as thought about the way she'd checked her weapon before putting it in her ankle holster when they were leaving hotel. No, Isn't was definitely there, ready and waiting should she be needed.

When he signaled the State Troopers they were ready, Mary began 'the speech.'

It was something they'd both recited on countless occasions until they knew it by heart. It was the first thing they said before entering the building. If the assassin knew how they operated they weren't going to deviate from the routine until the time came to do otherwise.

"We're almost through this Ms. Manning," Mary began. "All you have to do is stick close to us. Marshall and I will be near you at all times. Just do as we tell you and we'll get you there."

He could hear the sarcasm in Mary's voice, as she said the words in an almost sing-song tone. At least she was going through the motions, and there was no way the man could hear anything—just maybe see that Mary was being the calming marshal before escorting their witness to the lions.

Three marshals and two police officers met them at the elevator and proceeded to form a box around the 'witness'. Mary stood to Isn't 's right while Marshall took up position behind them where he could keep an eye on both Mary and Isn't: his girls.


	12. Chapter 12

Stan watched from the security center as Marshall and Mary arrived at the underground garage with their 'witness.' He turned and gave the ADA a confident smile. They were almost through the gauntlet.

As he watched his respect for the UC Agent grew. If he hadn't known better he would have taken her for any of the witnesses he'd dealt with over the years. Her body language screamed: 'overwhelmed witness.'

He noticed the way Mary tucked herself in nice and close while Marshall positioned himself to keep an eye on them and the rest of the entourage while they moved her through the back hallways to the secure area.

He wasn't sure if he wanted Green to show up or hoped the man would decide it wasn't worth the risk.

"You're clear on the prime route," he told them over the secure dedicated channel.

'Keep it together… we're almost done,' he thought to himself.

He watched the video feeds splitting his attention between the escort detail and the hallways. The man could be anywhere.

Knowing all too well that "Green" could be listening in to their communications he resorted to using his cell phone. "O'Conner… you got anything yet?"

"We've got nothing," he heard the FBI agent reply. "We're focusing our scans on the areas surrounding the planned route, but there are a lot of people moving around down there and it's going to take time."

"Just do the best you can."

The ADA gave him a pointed look at that comment, but the look Stan gave him stopped him cold.

"We're finishing what you started so either you sit there and keep quiet, or crawl back under whatever rock you came from."

The last thing he needed was someone trying to run roughshod over this operation.

 

O'Conner frowned distractedly as he spoke with Chief Inspector McQueen. He could see the camera feeds as the marshals moved in tandem, working to protect a fellow federal agent. He didn't think he could release control so totally as to allow anyone to protect him like that, especially after his… experience with them.

He thought about the last time he'd seen Mary Shannon, and her parting words: ' _I look forward to working with you in the future Agent O'Conner._ '

He wondered if she really meant it. If not … well… it would give him some satisfaction if he could save her or Marshall, but something told him it really wouldn't matter to Marshal Shannon: it was his job.

Watching her as she made her way down the back hallways, he realized something he hadn't before: she was all about the job and in his quest for justice… vengeance… redemption… he'd gotten in the way of her doing her job.

He was about to say something to acknowledge McQueen's request when one of the screens began flashing.

"McQueen… we've got positive ID… he's in the restricted hallway close to the Judge's chambers for courtroom B. He's dressed as a Denver PD officer…" He paused as the technician zoomed in on their target. "He's on the move… Chief, he's heading for your inspectors."

He signaled the technician to track the man.

 

As Stan listened to O'Conner's report, he brought up the hallway in question on the security monitors. "I see him," he replied as he activated the radio. He pressed the button down twice and then held it for a second before releasing it again.

He was relieved when he saw Marshall perk up slightly and begin scanning the area. He watched tensely as he gave the SOG team the visual signal to move in.

He held his breath as the scene played out in front of him.

 

"Heads up," Marshall warned as he heard the predetermined set of clicks over the radio. He started to turn, his hand moving towards this holster.

As he turned he saw Green behind in a Denver PD uniform. He was about to say something when the man threw something towards them. Without thinking he turned pushing Mary and Isn't against the wall, shielding them with his own body.

He winced as the he heard the explosion and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the grenade was a flash-bang. The bright lights and sound that accompanied the explosion were meant to distract and disorient, allowing the thrower the time they needed to get the drop of their targets.

There was no way Marshall was going to let that happen, not now, not after everything they'd been through. He forced himself to stand drawing his sidearm as he did so.

The hallway was empty except for the escort team.

 

Stan watched and shook his head. The monitors had flared when the flash-bang had detonated but now there was no sign of the attacker.

"Stay with the team..." he ordered the technician monitoring their progress. Even as he spoke he was on the phone. "O'Conner, what's happening?"

"I have no clue Chief, we're working on it."

"My people are watching over the team... find that bastard."

"Marshall," he called over the radio. "SOG is on their way... hold your position until they arrive"

He watched as Marshall looked up at the camera and shook his head. Something was very wrong.

 

"What the hell was that?" Mary demanded as she helped Isn't up. .When she realized that Isn't was reaching for her gun Mary tightened her grip slightly and called to her. "Is? Isabelle?"

The agent stopped, stood up shakily and resumed her role as the scared witness. She gave Mary a slightly sheepish looked before forcing herself into the background. Mary continued to focus on her until she was sure she was back. Only then did she survey the area.

As she watched the team regrouped and waited for SOG to arrive.

Marshall continued to stare at the spot where he'd seen the man. "That was... "

"Yeah," Mary agreed, oddly calmed by Marshall's perplexed state. While the rest of the team dealt with various adrenaline induced reactions, he remained calm and analytical as ever.

"Marshall?"

Marshall shook his head. Something did not fit.

"It doesn't make any sense," He muttered.

No one in his right mind attacked eight people in a secure hallway, let alone eight heavily armed law enforcement officers without some sort of plan. Throwing a flash-bang and then running away didn't make sense unless you wanted attention drawn away from something else.

Marshall turned towards Mary his expression shifting to one of concern. "Unless..."

"OhGodNo…" Mary's eyes widened and then she was moving towards the witness room for Courtroom C as quickly as she could.

Isn't looked up, realization registering only a second later. "Distraction…"

Then she too was moving down the hall.

Marshall followed a beat behind as he radioed ahead. "Red-One to Red-Two… the attack on the escort was a distraction, lock down the witness now! No one in, no one out, we're on our way."

 

Stan watched as Mary led the charge to Courtroom C's secure area, the UC staying close to the group but looking less and less like a witness as things progressed.

"Center on the secure areas of Courtroom C. Judges' chambers, witness security, prisoner holding," he ordered the technician. "Check everyone coming through."

"O'Conner," he called over the phone. "We have our people scanning the secure areas for Courtroom C. Have your people work their way out from there. Copy?"

"Copy," came the terse reply. "But we've got a problem on our hands. The protest outside is getting decidedly more martial."

"Do what you can."

Stan thought about the scenarios Marshall had sent him. This particular situation had been one of the less pleasant possibilities they had reviewed.

In their version someone had been shot in the hallway, at least that hadn't happened.

 

"Mare, get Isn't inside," Marshall said in a calm, controlled voice.

They had reached the witness room with no sign of trouble, and that had worried both of them.

Mary paused before accepting his command. Isabelle Manning was technically his witness, and therefore Isn't was his... What? Step witness? Either way she decided it was his call.

"Don't forget, what happened when we worked our way through this one," she warned.

Marshall gave an exasperated sigh. He could see something else pass in front of Mary's eyes. He knew he was going to be in for a lecture after this was over, but at least Mary, Isn't and Isabelle would be safe.

He gave her an accepting nod before turning to coordinate the external defenses. Something told him this was only the beginning.

 

Mary led 'Isn't' into the witness room. Two Marshals greeted her at the door and another two circulated around the room.

She wasn't entirely surprised by the room's two other occupants: A man and a woman who looked every bit the part of a pair of Secret Service Agents.

They had done a passable job protecting Isabelle, assuming of course the woman was indeed Isabelle Manning, but Mary wasn't about to take anything for granted after everything they'd been through.

The man stood as Mary ushered Isn't into the room, Mary gave him a warning look, waiting for Isn't's verification.

"Mike," Isn't said with a smile. Mary watched as Isn't posture changed and the woman behind the cover started to emerge.

"My partner," she explained to Mary.

"Leigh," the man replied tossing her a leather case. "Good to see you. Just what kind of trouble are you stirring up now?"

"It's not me," she objected but her protest ended in a resigned sigh when it became apparent he wasn't accepting her explanation.

Mike strode forward offering Mary his hand. "Mike Danvers," he said introducing himself. "You'll have to forgive my ill-bred partner… she never was good at introducing people.

Isn't, Leigh as her partner had called her shook her head, "Marshal Sheppard, I'd like you to meet Mike Danvers, Mike… Don't piss her off."

"Back less than a minute and you're threatening me already?"

"No, I promised your wife I'd bring you back in once piece… this is just a friendly warning and my attempt to keep said promise.

Leigh chuckled then offered Mary her hand as well. "Sorry it's taken so long," she said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Leigh Elder with the Secret Service."

Mary paused for a moment before taking 'Isn't' hand. The handshake was completely different than the one she'd offered four days ago when she'd introduced herself as Isabelle Manning.

Mary was just beginning to appreciate the acting job as the woman continued. She gently ushered the official looking woman over and introduced her.

"Is, I'd like you to meet Inspector Shepherd. She and her partner will be taking care of you from here on. You listen to them and believe you me they will take care of you."

Leigh sighed and turned towards Mary.

"Marshal Shepherd," she said gesturing towards the woman. "I'd like to introduce you to Isabelle Manning."

The woman, the real Is, offered Mary her hand. Her handshake was everything she'd experienced four days earlier when she'd first met Leigh.

"Inspector Shepherd, please take good care of Is. She's good people."

Mary nodded. "It's what we do."

She noticed a slight hesitation as Isn't pulled out two business cards from her badge case.

"I guess it's well past time for this," she said handing Mary the cards. "If you or Marshall ever need anything…"

Mary took the cards and tucked them away in her wallet.

As a quiet settled over them, Mike spoke up. "Leigh, once we're clear we've got to go. We've had a development in the Iraqi counterfeiting ring… Plane is waiting, they want wheels up as soon as we can get to the airport.

Isn't turned towards Mary, "Are we clear to go?"

"I'd rather you wait for the all clear—Green was gunning for you a few minutes ago and he might not have figured out that you're not the target."

Leigh winced slight. "Yeah, there is that… "

 

Mary spent the majority of the time getting acquainted with Is. There were times she found herself feeling like she already knew the woman, other times she found herself comparing her to Isn't's representation.

"Marshal Shepherd?"

There was something in Is's tone that drew her back.

"Yes?"

"I... heard about the trouble you had... I'm sorry..."

"Stop right there," Mary interjected. "None of this was your fault. You're doing a very brave thing here- all we're doing is making sure you get to do it."

Is rewarded her with a shy smile. "Thank you.

"It's just like I told Isn't... Leigh... It's what we do."

Is tilted her head and chuckled "Isn't? " There was a pause as sue mused over it. "Because she was me... only she wasn't?"

Mary nodded.

Marshall was going to be in for an interesting time. Is may be shy and quiet, but she was quick on the uptake and from the look of things a keen sense of the ironic.

She activated her radio. "Do we have a report?"

 

Marshall worked through what he knew of the layout of the area and short of a full on assault there was no way Green was getting to the witness.

That meant he was either already in the containment area or long gone.

He went through it all again from the time they arrived to the time Green was spotted. They hadn't known they'd be entering through the garage until they'd been forced there by the protest. That meant he probably hadn't known either.

Instead he went for the one constant" no matter how they got into the courthouse, they still had to make it to the secure area for Courtroom C.

One of the things they'd all agreed on was the fact that the further into the building you got, the more secure it became. Yet Green had managed to make it into the secure areas without being challenged until the facial recognition picked him out.

He was posing as a police officer and without the software he never would have been detected and yet somehow he'd known when they'd found him: but how?

How had he known they'd recognized him? Stan hadn't said anything, just coded clicks over the radio: a code only he and Mary had known. His thoughts were interrupted by Mary's request for information.

"The perimeter is secure," Marshall informed the others over the radio. "I'm assigning a team to start at the center and work their way out... but right now we've got nothing. Stan?"

 

Stan shook his head. None of this made sense: not the attack and definitely not the lack of follow through. This man had been thorough in his planning every step of the way. His end game would not end in a show of how close he'd come. Granted he might not have thought it would go this far—that Isabelle Manning, real or simulated, would have made it to the courthouse in one piece but he could have ended it in the hall way.

"Last report we have on him is in the hallway… will advise…Red Leader out."

As he finished his transmission he signaled the lead tech who'd been working the radio system. The man looked up, and nodded before going to work.

Stan reached for the radio and switched it to the predetermined channel, watching as the Marshal Service SOG team did the same. If the man had their air, he'd be getting nothing but static.

"O'Conner," he said into the phone. "Have your people switch to Tac-4"

He could hear O'Conner doing just that.

"Have you found anything?" he asked as he slipped the ear piece into place.

"We found him a few times, only to lose him again. That protest is getting worse outside and a lot of the police have been redirected to handle crowd control. He's using that to obscure his movements."

"Marshall, you get that?"

 

Marshall let his breath out and activated his radio. "Copy that Stan. We're missing something here."

"What are you thinking?" Stan asked.

"I'm thinking that a frontal attack is not subtle."

"An act of desperation?" Stan suggested.

"No… this guy doesn't do something without a reason…" Marshall's voice drifted off as he tried to analyze what had happened.

"Maybe intimidation? That kind of attack would rattle a witness."

"No… He's all about precision, being one step ahead of us. We knew where he was. That changed the game. There was no way out unless he…"

"Marshall… talk to us…" Mary urged, more than a little frustrated.

"Think about it Mare, he knows our playbook. He knows that we're closing in on him—if he blinds the system, he's got maybe thirty seconds to get away. Not enough time to do serious damage, but more than enough time for us to react to the threat."

"So while we're circling the wagons and deploying our resources around the witness… " Mary stated realizing where he was heading

"He uses that to get away..." Marshall finished.

"So… we stand down?" Stan asked.

"No!" Mary exclaimed.

"No," Marshal answered at the same time.

Marshall smiled to himself as he heard Stan's intake of breath. "Because he knows how we react..."

"Exactly," Marshall replied.

Marshall's answer was almost drowned out by Mary's "Yup, yup, yup"

"So we assume he's still up to something," Stand agreed. "I've got people watching the footage real time in the control center and the FBI is processing the feeds through their facial recognition software. They found him once; hopefully they'll find him again."

Marshall drew a deep breath and took stock of his surroundings. Once he was sure they had secured the perimeter, he signaled a scout team to begin circling the area.

 

Mary thought about what Marshall had said and began circulating through the room. It was looking more and more like their suspicions were true. She smiled, knowing that Stan had made sure the marshals inside the room were ones she and Marshall knew and had worked with before.

It would make it harder for Green to pose as a US Deputy Marshal.

As she moved closer to Isn't… Leigh she reminded herself, and her partner she realized they were speaking to each other in another language. She paused. It sounded like Arabic, but then there were bits of French thrown in.

"Mish mayhem?" she asked repeating the last thing she thought she'd heard.

"Mish mhem," Leigh corrected, although the words seemed to blend into one. "It's nothing."

Mary's expression must have changed just enough because Leigh raised a hand, her expression opening up slightly as she added. "No, literally … it means 'not important…figuratively… it's nothing, it's not a concern."

Mary frowned. "You notice anything?"

Leigh's expression became more guarded as she shook her head her voice dropping ever so slightly. "No, everyone here is focused on protecting Is. No phones, no texting… "

Mary paused, thinking about what she had said, it matched what she had seen but she knew someone had to be feeding Green information. "Keep your eyes open."

Leigh gave the slightest of nods before slipping back into the odd combination of Arabic and French she and her partner were speaking.


	13. Chapter 13

Marshall shook his head. If something were going to happen it would have happened by now. Unless that was Green's plan, wait for them make a mistake, keep them off balance.

It just didn't fit the profile. The man had at least as many contingency plans as they did and from what he'd seen the man was as relentless as he was meticulous.

The checked attack made sense if it was a feint but to leave it with no follow through—it just didn't make sense unless the percentages just weren't in it.

Marshal looked around, a perplexed expression on his face: they had to have missed something. He started working his way through the events leading up to this point, trying to figure out what it was.

 

"O'Conner, do you have anything to report?"

Stan was getting tired of silence as he watched the others in the security booth. The technician had continued to monitor the radio—scanning for any signs of other transmissions but hadn't found anything.

The ADA was nervous, but seemed to be relaxing as time went on—it looked like his witness was indeed safe and sound.

After another moment O'Conner finally answered. His tone was brusque and annoyed.  
"We had a few possible hits but… I'm fairly certain he knows where the cameras are. We're working as fast as we can, but there are a lot of people to check.

Stan let his breath out slowly and nodded. "Hold your positions," he ordered. He knew it was unnecessary but it made it feel as if they were somehow in control of what was going on.

He knew all too well that Green was still calling the shots.

 

Mary alternated between pacing the room and trying to assure Is that the worst was over, but the longer things drew out the less sure she felt. She had to agree with Marshall's assessment: they were missing something.

When she saw Isn't… Leigh… get up and head to the coffee machine she did the same.

"Have you heard anything?" Leigh asked quietly as she reached for a bottle of water.

Mary shook her head as she began fixing herself a cup of coffee. It was beginning to look like another long day.

Leigh sighed and shook her head, squeezing the bottle slightly in frustration. She felt something wet on her shirt and noticed the mortified look on Mary's face. Looking down she realized why: the water bottles had been doctored.

"Nobody drink anything," Mary ordered as Leigh grabbed a trashcan liner and began inspecting each bottle using the plastic liner to keep her fingerprints off the bottle.

"Isabelle… have you had anything to drink?"

When the witness gave her a startled shake of the head she turned toward the others. They were on their feet but no one had had anything yet.

"Marshall," Mary called. "He wasn't on his way in—he was on his way out. Stan, let O'Conner know we need a crime scene team in here now… from the looks of things some one's spiked the water.

"I can have a team there in ten minutes," O'Conner answered, but there was a hint of question in his tone.

"As soon as you can get them here," Stan said. "But I need you to keep going through the feeds, he's still out there and I want that bastard."

"We're on it."

 

Marshall looked up, startled by Mary's announcement over the radio.

"Mare," he called tensely. "Is everyone all right?"

He was already standing and moving towards the Witness Room before he even had a chance to think about it. The majority of ways they could have discovered the tampering were not good, but Mary's voice had remained calm and there had been no requests for EMS.

"Yep, worst we've got is a water stain... "

"But?"

"Either someone's doctored the water or someone is a practical joker with a penchant for dribble glasses…"

"How many water bottles?"

There was a pause before Mary answered. "All of them."

Marshall thought about the time that would have been required to do the work. "Stan, I doubt it will be a problem, but you might want to notify the security details for the other courtrooms."

"Already on it," Stan assured him.

 

Mary watched as the forensics team began working through the water bottles. Every last one of them had been hit—but reports from other courtroom secure areas had come back negative.

Green had to have been in the room at some point and that worried her more than anything.

"Stan," she called over the radio. "We need to know who had access to this room and we need to know when it was last used, last stocked…"

"Eleanor's already looking into it."

"Eleanor?" Mary asked in almost disbelief.

"Yes Eleanor… she didn't like the idea of people shooting at you and Marshall."

"Probably because she wanted to do it herself," Mary muttered under her breath before clicking the mic. again. "Any sightings of our friend yet?"

"Nothing yet—you'll hear as soon as I do."

"Thanks Stan," Mary replied. "Marshall you got anything?"

 

Marshall listened to the conversation knowing all too well how Mary would equate Eleanor looking out for them with Eleanor seeking some sort of retribution.

"If by 'anything' you mean leg cramps and case of heartburn yeah, I do… but as for everything else, it's been quiet…"

He smiled when Mary quickly interrupted, "JesusGod, Marshall don't you dare say it's too quiet or so help me God I will seriously hurt you when this is over."

 

Mary rolled her eyes. She could picture the grin on Marshall's face as he started to evoke the war movie cliché, knowing it would have meant certain doom for what had already proven to be a less than stellar day.

She also knew the grin that had replaced it when she'd called him on it. There were times they simply knew each other too well. It was what made them a good team—it's also what tended to drive outsiders crazy.

"If you two are done," Stan called over the radio. "I am trying to run a joint agency taskforce here…"

It was a not so subtle reminder that others were privy to their antics.

Mary schooled her expression but almost lost it when she heard Marshall's very quiet: "almost too quiet."

 

O'Conner frowned only half hearing the radio chatter. He was busy focusing on the feeds from the courthouse.

"There…" he said pointing to an all too familiar looking figure. The man was heading for the front door with a pair of Denver PD officers.

He refrained from calling knowing it might be a false alarm, but at this point nothing the man did would really surprise him.

"It's him," the technician confirmed.

"Keep an eye on him," he ordered while he signaled another tech. "Bring it up real time."

As they worked he picked up his radio. "Chief Inspector McQueen, we found him. We're trying to get men on him now—he's exiting the building but the protest is now officially a riot… Do you have anyone in the vicinity of the front door?"

 

Stan leaned forward focusing on the monitors as he activated the radio. "SOG unit twelve, did you copy that?"

"Yes sir, we're trying but it's hard to get anywhere."

"Subject is posing as a Denver police officer and is considered armed and dangerous."

Stan knew the information meant a lot more than just the general warning: he was reminding them that they had to proceed with caution in order to protect the demonstrators.

On the bright side the witness, the fake witness and his inspectors were safe, but Green was still at large and there were still too many way things could go wrong out there.

"Agent O'Conner, can you confirm that he has left the building?"

 

O'Conner watched as the technician time lapsed the delayed feed back into real time and was able to watch as the subject broke away from the other police officers dispatched to handle the protest.

"Confirmed, he is approximately 30 yards from the building heading west..."

 

Marshall allowed himself a brief sigh of relief but there was still work to be done. "Mare, I'm going to do a perimeter check back in five."

Even as he spoke he signaled the two marshals closest to him to follow. After everything they'd been through he was not taking any chances.

 

Mary stood up, resisting the urge to look out the window. Green had left the building and was no longer their problem, but he was still out there and he was still a problem.

She caught Isn't's eye and gestured towards the side away from the FBI and other marshals.

Leigh for her part, paused, said something to her partner then headed towards the area Mary had indicated.

"You should be good to go," Mary informed her. Just waiting for confirmation."

Isn't nodded.

"I haven't seen anything, have you?"

"Nada. Everyone here's been focused on security and Is. They also all seemed very surprised by the drinks and no one's touched their phones. Green?"

Mary shook her head. "They have footage of him leaving. They're trying to get eyes on him now."

Isn't shrugged and began taking off the ballistic vest Mary had given her at the start of their journey. "Guess I should return this to you."

Mary paused for a moment, a slightly bemused look in her eyes.

"And no, I did not take the blanket," she added with a chuckle.

"So I don't have to check your luggage?"

"Feel free, it's still in the SUV."

 

Stan was growing frustrated as he listened to the transmissions. SOG had gotten close to Green, but the protest quickly enveloped them and they were caught up in the crowd.

"Just do the best you can," he urged then looked up, surprised to see the ADA staring at him anxiously.

"He got away," Stan explained. "On the bright side, you witness is safe and here on time."

ADA Marlin nodded. "May I go over her statement with her?"

Stan looked around the room, everything had settled down and the need to stay in place had passed. "You may."

 

Marshall finished a walkthrough of the security area and headed into the courtroom proper. The last thing they needed was another surprise.

"Be sure and check the water," he urged one of his companions. He was not taking any chances with his witness.

 

"Mary, ADA is on his way to your location." Stan radioed ahead.

"Copy that," she answered. "Can I release the others?"

"Yeah, go ahead and give them the all clear."

She could hear the reluctance in Stan's voice. It took her a moment to recognize the source of his annoyance. Giving the clearance meant admitting that Green had won this one. It would have been so much better if they could have caught him.

She looked up to see Leigh slipping into a professional looking vest and suit jacket. If it weren't for the blue hair she would have looked every bit the part of a Secret Service agent.

"Leigh," she called out.

When Leigh and her partner turned Mary gestured towards the door. "You're good to go."

Leigh nodded and gave her a slight salute.

"Don't do anything stupid," Mary warned.

"It's my job," Leigh said with a shrug.

Mary watched the door for a few moments after they'd left before focusing on Is.

She paused, realizing that part of her had been comparing Is to Leigh's 'Isn't'. The mannerisms and speech patterns were almost dead on, but with Is there wasn't the wrongness Mary had felt with the Secret Service Agent.

There were no lies in Is' mannerisms. She was who she was.

She had just started to relax when there was a knock on the door followed by Marshall entering the room.

He did a quick scan, surprised to see Mary sitting next to an eerily familiar woman.

"Is…abelle, I assume?"

Mary laughed. "Is, this is my partner Marshall Miller, Marshall, I'd like you to meet the real Is."

He smiled in acknowledgment then looked around the room again. "And Isn't?"

"'Isn't' isn't 'Isn't'," Mary answered laughing at her own joke. "'Isn't' is Leigh Elder… she and her partner had to leave…"

Marshall gave a slightly disappointed nod. Before he could say anything the ADA entered the room demanding their attention.

Mary gave Marshall a concerned look and then looked back at the vest Leigh had left there. She really didn't like where her mind was going, but when she saw the same look in Marshall's eyes she stood.

"If you'll excuse me," she said before she headed over to talk to the FBI forensics team.

She talked to them for a minute then pulled out her phone quickly hitting speed dial. She smiled when the call was picked up before the second ring.

"Stan," she said softly. "Where was the ADA when we were waiting for Green."

"He was in the booth with me."

Mary paused. "He use his phone?"

"Yeah.. but... why?"

"I"ll get back to you..."

Mary shook her head as she stared at her phone for a minute and headed back to the others.

"Marshall, can I borrow your phone? My battery went dead..."

Marshall shrugged and was about to hand her his, when he caught her expression. He gave her a slightly confused look and then shook his head. "Mine died two days ago."

She sighed then turned towards the ADA, "Could I borrow yours?"

There was only the slightest of hesitations before the ADA handed her his phone.

"Reception isn't the best..." he warned.

"Better than a dead phone… Thanks,"

She started to call Stan, walking back to the far side of the room, on the pretext of looking for some privacy. Once she was away from the ADA she started scanning his outgoing texts.

What she saw sent a chill through her. The last text message read: "subject is on their way out now."


	14. Chapter 14

Marshall watched as Mary signaled the other marshals to follow her and quickly turned back to the ADA and Is. He stood and stretched, making sure he was close enough that he could get between them if he needed to.

He could tell something was up and he was not going to like it.

When Mary spoke he felt the pieces fall into place with a cold clarity.

"How long?" Mary demanded as she all but threatened the ADA with his own phone. Her tone was cold and focused. "How long was Agent Elder the intended target?"

The ADA tilted his head, but there was no denying the message on the screen. With a snarl, he reached for Isabelle, hoping to use her as a human shield.

Marshall met the attack with one of his own. He grabbed the ADA's hand and twisted it into an arm lock. As the ADA resisted, he used leverage to force the man to his knees.

"I wouldn't," he said with a disappointed look. He kept the hold in place until one of the other marshals moved in to cuff him. "I hope you have an assistant who can take over this case... You're going to be a bit indisposed."

With Marlin in custody Mary tied calling the number on Leigh's card. Marshall," she called. "Let's move it... she's not picking up."

Marshall looked at his witness and then at Mary as she moved with purpose. "Keep Is here," he ordered. He hated leaving his witness behind, but these were the Marshals who'd watched over her while he and Mary had been out with Isn't.

He knew she was safe with them: Isn't … not so much.

 

"Stan," Marshall called over the radio.

Stan had been tense since his conversation with Mary and now he was hearing from Marshall, not Mary.

"Marshall, what's happening?"

"Stan, the ADA was feeding information to someone, most likely Green."

Stan shook his head in disbelief. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. "Why would he betray his own witness?"

"Not the witness Stan, the undercover agent."

"Again I have to ask why?"

"Why's going to be a bit moot if we don't get her somewhere where we can protect her."

"Looking for her now," Stan answered as he scanned the security feeds. When the cameras for the fourth level of the parking garage finished their sweep he noticed the Secret Service Suburban was missing from its parking space.

"We're too late, they've left the garage.."

 

"See if you can get anyone on them... if Green is still in the area she's his target."

Marshall fell in behind Mary as she altered her course at Stan's announcement that they'd already left the building. It was going to be faster to exit the courthouse through the fire exit than it would be by retracing their steps.

He wasn't sure at this point which bothered him more, theADA's betrayal or the fact that Isn't was in danger and there was very little they could do for her.

"Which way are they heading?"

"East."

He was still behind Mary when he noticed the crowd in front of them. "Mary, coming through," he said.

While her attitude would get them through a lot of crowds, in this case being bigger was what they needed.

Mary stepped slightly to the left to let him through and followed behind without missing a step.

 

"Attention all units," Stan called over the secure channel. "Switch to main channel. I repeat, switch to the primary channel."

He paused only long enough to switch his radio to the main frequency assigned to the courthouse.

"This is Marshal McQueen. Be on the lookout for a Chevy Suburban, black in color bearing Colorado plates M Michael, D David, Oh Oscar-Two Eight. That's MDO 28. Vehicle has left the courthouse and is heading east...Occupants are Law Enforcement Officers and they are the target of an assassination attempt. The Green subject is targeting them. I repeat, the Green subject is targeting them.

With his message delivered Stan turned back towards the technician operating the video feeds.

"We need to review the footage of that vehicle from the time it arrived to the time it left, I want to see anybody coming close to it."

The technician gave him a slightly questioning look but did as ordered.

Stan watched as the images began to rewind then finally started from the beginning. He watched as Agent Danvers arrived with the witness and the marshal team. The car sat there and there was no movement for almost two hours before a maintenance worker appeared on screen, working his way down the row of vehicles collecting trash.

 

Marshall broke through the crowd and paused, trying to get his bearings. "I don't see them..."

Mary moved to his side and began scanning the area. They worked in tandem, spotting Green at almost the same moment. He was no longer dressed as a Denver PD officer, having traded in his uniform shirt for a windbreaker, but there was no mistaking him.

"OhShit." Mary muttered as she noticed where he was looking and the detonator in his hand.

"No, no no..." Marshall said at almost the same moment.

 

Stan watched the footage as a maintenance worker moved closer and closer to the SUV. He continued to pick up trash placing it in the canvas bag at his side, his face never coming into view.

When he reached the Suburban, the man knelt down. He remained there only long enough to pick something up but as he stood Stan's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Freeze there, and print it," he ordered. As the printer whined to life, he pointed to the screen "Now back it up to before he knelt down… and print that… I want to see the bag…"

Stan shook his head hoping he wasn't seeing what he thought he had, but the bag seemed somehow less bulky after the 'clean up' rather than fuller.

"Someone get me the bomb squad..."

 

They moved in unison, Mary drawing her side arm as Marshall extended his asp baton. They exchanged a long steady look that seemed to communicate more than words ever could. They held each other's gaze for a moment then separated. Mary worked to circle around to where she could get a shot without putting the protesters in the crossfire, while Marshall took the more direct approach.

Mary wasn't sure she liked the way Marshall's smile gave way to a feral grin, but she knew it merely reflected her own.

They were on the hunt and their prey was in sight.

 

Marshall closed the distance quickly—he knew Green wasn't going to worry about innocent bystanders or collateral damage as long as he hit his target. He'd already proven that time and time again. The man's attention was still on the departing SUV as Marshall closed to striking distance, but as he raised his baton, one of the protesters noticed and let out a warning.

A cry went out as people assumed 'the man' was about to attack one of their own. They reacted by grabbing Marshall's arm and pulling him to the ground.

A smile flashed across Green's face when he saw Marshall go down. He let out a deep throated chuckle. A sadistic look of triumph flashed in his eyes and he held up the detonator.

It was obvious Green knew Marshall's partner was there somewhere, but it no longer mattered. They had thwarted him for the last time.

Marshall's eyes widened as he tried to break free of the crowd, his only thought was keeping Green from pushing the button, but he was too far away.

 

Mary moved trying to get a shot, but Green had chosen his spot well. There was no place she could stand that didn't put someone in danger. Worse, they were now surrounded.

Green was using the crowd to his advantage knowing that the marshals would not endanger bystanders.

Mary's eyes widened when she saw the smile on Green's face. There was nothing she could do as he pressed the button.

She ducked as the area was rocked by an explosion.

 

Marshall felt his breath knocked out of him by the shockwave.

He felt utter defeat as the explosion rang in his ears and he righted himself. Then a primal rage filled him as he thought of Isn't's laugh and smile taken from him before he'd even had a chance to meet the woman behind the smile. She was gone and the promise of 'after' was gone with her.

He pushed his way out from under the crowd that had only moments tried to hold him down. They were now too concerned about their own safety to worry about Marshall and his target.

 

Mary watched as Marshall stood. There was a fury that burned in his eyes that almost scared her. She wasn't sure if it was the rage behind the look or the fact that her partner, her Marshall, the man who remained calm at all times was out for blood and was not thinking clearly.

She tried to push herself off the ground and stop Green only to find him staring down the barrel of is gun at her.

Mary froze.

 

Marshall felt his heart racing as Green raised his weapon. He felt a cold chill as he realized Green was about to take Mary from him in a very permanent way.

He growled as he remembered the feel of shattered glass as a sniper's bullet shattered the windshield and pierced the seat where Mary had been a moment before. All the near misses they'd survived, only to end with Isn't gone and Mary about to join her.

He welcomed the flood of adrenalin that coursed through his veins.

 

Mary met the man's gaze, her expression one of defiance, almost daring him to finish it. If she could keep him focused on her for just a moment longer it might be all Marshall would need to regain his self control and deal with the man.

She could feel her heart in her throat as the man began to pull the trigger and smiled as she saw the ball end of Marshall's baton connect with Green's elbow.

 

Marshall lost himself in the moves he needed to take Green down before he could hurt anyone else. Muscle memory took over as he grabbed Green's shoulder and struck the man's elbow with the baton.

He pulled back without thinking, his hand now pushing the injured arm down making an opening for a strike to the man's throat. The upward strike held less power than the downward attack, but it was equally effective.

Thoughts of a counter attack were quickly erased by the need to breathe.

Green realized his mistake too late: he had nothing left to bargain with. The man he now faced wasn't interested in negotiation, or surrender. He had had threatened the man's reason for civility and now he wanted blood.

Marshall quickly straddled the man, using his own weight to subdue him and pin him to the ground reason returning as quickly as it had left.

"Mare…"

"Got him," Mary answered as she began cuffing Green.

The two of them working in tandem made quick work of the process. As they pulled him up, all three got their first view of the Suburban.

Green stared in disbelief while Mary smiled and Marshall began laughing as all three realized just how armored the Secret Service vehicle had been.

The vehicle sat, buckled in the middle where the power from the blast had pushed the SUV upward. Smoke was pouring up around the vehicle but the passenger compartment was still intact and its occupants were moving.

As they handed Green off to members of the SOG team Marshal held his hands out in a triumphant gesture.

"What?" Mary asked, sarcasm returning. "It's your job, now go check on your girlfriend."

Marshall gave her a perplexed look, unsure if she was teasing or serious.

"She's not my girl-friend…" he said with a slight snort.

Despite his denial, Marshall had already started to head towards the SUV.

Mary watched him walking away, and eyed him critically. After a pause she gave an approving shake of her head.

"I knew there was a bad assed marshal in there somewhere."

 

Mary watched as Marshall joked with Isn't, trying to keep her mind off what she and her partner had just been through. It was obvious the woman was far more concerned with her partner's well being than her own and Marshall's presence was keeping her from driving the medics crazy.

They were all too aware of just how bad things could have been, and she found herself very thankful that Isn't was a Secret Service agent rather than a Marshal or an FBI Agent. If she had been, she and her partner would have been in far less protected vehicle.

Behind her partner's banter she knew he was thinking the same thing. She could see the concern as he focused on the injured woman even as he smiled and made her laugh.

_We all pretend to be something we're not. We pretend we are brave when all we want to do is hide. We pretend we don't care when our hearts are breaking, because it's what we think people want us to be, because honest emotions scare us._

* * *

**Albuquerque, NM - Today**

Mary sat at the conference table nursing a cup of coffee as she opened the binder in front of her and addressed the room's other occupant: Isabelle 'Is' Manning, soon to be Isabelle Anderson.

"Ms. Manning, this is our Memorandum of Understanding…"

* * *

_We are all scared, we are all scarred,_

* * *

**Denver, CO – Today**

Marshall stood as an orderly pushed a wheel chair towards the door, his focus on the chair's blue haired occupant.

His hopeful smile was replaced with a grin when she ducked her head shyly before smiling back at him.

* * *

_and we are so lost in our own act that we forget that every one of us is alone in our unified front of pretending we're all right._   
  
**\- Mary Shannnon**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks:
> 
> David Maples, for creating the show
> 
> Mary McCormack and Fredrick Weller for giving life to the written word, and giving Mary and Marshall their faces and voices


End file.
